I really loved this book!! It was a really good mix of adventure, romance, and humor, with enough history for it to qualify as historical fiction (so it works for school). I loved it!!! I definitely recommend it!!!

Zorro is an awesome book/movie.
I had a book charter day and I dressed up as him.
This book is just like movie but better.
Eveyone should read this you can't stop its just sooooooo good!
READ IT! IT'S AWSOME!

Like Robin Hood, Zorro is a story that almost everyone knows, but few have read. The original book by Johnston McCulley is out of print and available in very few libraries. The Mark of Zorro 1920 with Douglas Fairbanks is very true to the book. Zorro, and especially Bernardo his Indian companion, have come a very long way from the original master/servant relationship written in 1919 to Allende's making them inseparable blood brothers in 2005. I don't know if her changes were to modernize the story for today's audience, or a social agenda, or just a device to move the story along. It is not to make it a prettier story. Allende's book adds a lot more ugliness to the story than McCulley's whippings and stolen kiss.

I give Allende high marks for her clever plot twists and reasoning concerning the development of the Zorro character and her research. I reduce her marks somewhat because of the rambling style and then rush to the end. It would have made an excellent draft, but as it was published as is, it is merely good.

I love Zorro and the stories surrounding Zorro. When I started this book I was very excited and I loved the way the author handled the beginnings of Zorro. However, being a diehard Zorro fan I wanted to know more of the story involving Esparanza. Other than that I highly recommendthis book.