Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

The early days of the Robin Hood story, told from the perspective of "Will" Scarlet.  Known to Robin, John, and a few others as just Scarlet, she is a young woman posing as a young man after running away from an arranged marriage.

**Spoilers contained within**  

When her parents affianced her to the cruel and generally nasty Guy of Gisbourne, Scarlet, then 13'ish and known as Marian, ran off with her older sister to the underbelly of London.  Readers able to suspend their belief that two privileged girls under 16 would be able to survive for long on the streets in a much-different time might enjoy the idea of Scarlet learning to become a master thief, and joining up with Robin Hood in his quest to steal from the rich and give to the poor.  Scarlet is clearly a wounded character, suffering guilt from the death of her older sister, as well as a general feeling that her soul is black and unredeemable despite her frequent visits to church and regular "gifts" to the needier folk in the shire.  Add in romantic tension with both John and Robin (her obvious true love), and many readers will enjoy the gender-flipped prehistory.  It does have writing flaws such as near constant references to the fact that Scarlet blushes a LOT, but it does capture pretty well her guilt, her willingness to consider being with a boy she doesn't love because she doesn't think she deserves the one she does, and how blindly, recklessly, one-track teens (and adults) can be when it comes to decision-making.

SLJ rated it for grades 8-10, although I feel it could range a bit lower, maybe 7th grade.