#REVIEW: A Plague of Unicorns by Jane Yolen

Title: A Plague of Unicorns

Series: none

Author:  Jane Yolen

Published Date: 2014

Publisher: Zonderkidz

Format: hard cover

Pages: 186

ISBN: 9780310746485

Genre: historical fantasy

Add to: Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis: Young James, an earl s son, is a bit bothersome and always asking the oddest questions. In despair the last of James tutors having quit his mother sends him off to be educated at Cranford Abbey. She feels the strict regimen will do him a world of good. But Cranford Abbey has its own problems. It has been falling into disrepair. The newly appointed Abbot Aelian takes it upon himself to save the abbey with the use of his secret weapon: a recipe for golden apple cider passed down in his family for many generations. He believes that by making and selling the cider, the monks will raise necessary funds to restore the abbey to its former glory. Abbot Aelian has everything he needs almost. One obstacle stands in his way, unicorns that happen to feast specifically on the golden apples. Abbot Aelian and his men must fight off the unicorns to make the cider. He and the monks try to form a battalion to fight off the beasts; next they import heroes to fight for them. But the heroes run off, monks are injured, and a herd of ravenous unicorns continue munching. After no success, the abbot finally calls upon the most unlikely of heroes, one suggested by no other than young James. That hero is small and unprepossessing but possesses the skill to tame the beasts. Though wildly skeptical, Abbot Aelian must risk everything and believe in this recommended stranger or risk the fall of Cranford Abbey."

My Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an awesome book. It’s a book about an abbott who finds himself in an unlikely war against a herd of unicorns, with his precious golden apples at stake. There’s also a boy whose curiosity tends to make people run with the number of questions he asks. Put them together and you get an amazing book with just the right sense of fantasy and reality to make this a great book for kids.

Of course, I devoured it in one sitting, and I loved it. Then I gave it to my 9 year old daughter, who chewed it over in 3 days. I’ve never seen her read so much, usually I have to put a timer on her to get her to read her required 20 minutes a day.

She loved it as well, and I saw her doing research on real-life unicorns. Her only complaint was there was no table of contents. Otherwise, she loved it.