64 pages • 2 hours read
Kekla MagoonShadows of Sherwood
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Literary Context: The Robyn Hoodlum Series
In the Robyn Hoodlum series, Kekla Magoon puts her own spin on the Robin Hood folktale, combining an adventurous middle-grade story with complex ideas about social change. The Robyn Hoodlum series reimagines the hero of the English legend as a 12-year-old biracial Black girl living in a dystopian near future. Robyn is forced to grow into Robyn Hoodlum when she is thrust into the harsh realities of an unequal world. Magoon reimagines the folklore’s central idea—a noble thief, who steals from the rich to give to the poor—as an act of resistance and social justice. Stealing food and medicine from the tyrannical government of her city is not just an act of rebellion; it is also Robyn’s way to show the government that their narratives and power are not absolute. In the process, Robyn has a lot of fun, conducts daredevil heists, and makes great friends. Thus, Magoon reimagines the 14th-century-origin Robin Hood tale for contemporary readers, developing the story’s ideas about equality and friendship in a 21st-century context. Magoon’s trilogy is a part of a movement in young adult and middle-grade literature in which authors retell age-old stories in a contemporary setting, such as Rick Riordan retelling Greek and Roman myth in his Percy Jackson series or Roshni Choksi reimagining Indian mythology in her Aru Shah series.
Cultural Context: Retellings of the Robin Hood Legend
The earliest mentions of Robin Hood are found in medieval English folklore circa the late 14th century, where he is depicted as a heroic outlaw dressed in green, who robs from the rich and gives to the poor. While the exact origins of the legend are not known, the earliest copies of ballads and poems that reference Robin Hood include “Robin and the Monk” (c. 1450) and “A Gest of Robyn Hode” (late 15th century). The characters of Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, and Maid Marian were added to the legend over time, as were the villain, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and the rightful ruler, King Richard the Lionheart, who is being usurped by his younger brother, Prince John. The story takes place during the Crusades and is set sometime between the 12th and 14th centuries. Though sometimes portrayed as being of noble birth, in early accounts, Robin Hood was a commoner and a longbow archer.
In the modern era, the Robin Hood legend has been retold many times, including Walt Disney’s hugely popular animation movie Robin Hood (1973) and the live action Hollywood films, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and Robin Hood (2018). The folk story features Robin Hood as an outlaw who steals from a sheriff who over-taxes and exploits the poor; thus, the money Robin returns to people is, in a way, their own money. Robin is shown dressed in green in popular culture and is helped by his band of outlaws, including Friar Tuck, a jolly, good-hearted priest, and the noble and beautiful Maid Marion. Magoon’s retelling of the legend is special because not only does she gender-swap Robin’s character, but she also gives the character a mixed-race heritage and situates her in a dystopian future. The fact that Magoon’s Robyn also needs to fight against an oppressive regime shows the timelessness of the legend’s theme of the unfair distribution of resources under tyrannical leaders.
Historical Context: The Youth Activism of the 2010s
Published in 2015, Shadows of Sherwood reflects the growing global awareness of political oppression and social injustice that was the hallmark of the 2010s. One of the most important movements that arose as a response to this awareness was Black Lives Matter. After George Zimmerman, the killer of Black teenager Trayvon Martin, was acquitted in 2013, community activists started the movement online. Black Lives Matter addressed the issue of the systemic racism that persists in American society, especially in the form of police brutality and wrongful convictions of Black people. Zimmerman, a community-watch volunteer, for instance, shot the unarmed Martin just because he thought the young man looked suspicious. The movement is considered historical in opening a robust, ongoing conversation about racism and resistance. Youth and online activists are at the forefront of this movement.
Other significant mass movements of the 2010s fought for the rights of immigrants and people seeking refuge, as well as LGBTQ+ rights. There was also increased awareness about the imminent and devastating effects of climate change, a global movement led by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg (b. 2003). Social media and online groups played and continue to play a major part in spreading these movements, such as the viral tweets that led to the #MeToo movement, which raises awareness about women’s rights and sexual assault.
Magoon, whose novels often deal with themes of racism, social change, and injustice, uses the universal story of Robin Hood in the Robyn Hoodlum series to show how young people can change the world they have inherited. Nessa Croft, an adult leader of the central rebellion in Shadows of Sherwood tells Robyn that the work of the rebellion must be continued by “the next generation” (308) since they represent the future. Mirroring contemporary events, the young people in the novel are shown to discover the inequalities in their world and begin to fight for change.
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