The Young Warriors
SynopsisPlot
Five Maroon boys pass tests of skill and endurance to become warriors in their village. When they go out hunting to celebrate, they suddenly discover that the forest is full of their enemies, the English Redcoats. In the campaign that follows, the defeat of the Maroons seems certain, but the young warriors help bring about a great victory.
Story
About this book
The Young Warriors by Victor Stafford Reid follows five Maroon boys in Jamaica as they undergo tests of skill and endurance to earn their place as warriors within their village. The Maroons were communities of formerly enslaved Africans who escaped into Jamaica's mountainous interior and established independent settlements. Reid sets his story during the colonial-era Maroon wars, when these communities fought to defend their freedom against British military forces.
While out hunting to mark their passage into warrior status, the five boys discover that English Redcoats have moved deep into the surrounding forest, placing their village in serious danger. The odds tilt sharply against the Maroons, and the boys find themselves caught between the responsibilities they have only just accepted and a threat far larger than anything their training prepared them for. Their response to the crisis forms the core of the story.
Reid, one of Jamaica's most recognized novelists, wrote the book for younger readers but grounded it in a real period of armed resistance. The Maroon wars stretched across much of the eighteenth century, and several Maroon communities in Jamaica's Blue Mountains and Cockpit Country survive as distinct settlements today.
