Writers may choose their subjects, but good writers have less to say about their themes, which are apt to rise, bidden or unbidden, from the raw material of their deepest preoccupations. Never does Scott O'Dell play better music than when he introduces what seems to be his favorite motif: the pull between the individual's need for solitude and the need for society….

After losing her father at the hands of the rebels and her brother at the hands of the King's men, Sarah Bishop, in fear of both parties, hides in a cave, gradually learning to take a fierce joy in her hard-won self-reliance. And when at the end of ["Sarah Bishop"] it is clear that Sarah will move back to town, the reader understands that Sarah is under no illusion that living with people will be easier than living alone.

Mr. O'Dell has always been a master...