A Plague of Unicorns, a review

I'm always on the lookout for good novels I think boys will enjoy.  They can be (in my experience), harder to find than those girls love.

So I was very interested in reading A Plague of Unicorns by Jane Yolen.  Especially as we are a family who enjoys a good tale of knights and heroes and animals such as ummm... unicorns.

Well, I was not at all disappointed in this book.  In the first part of the book, the reader is introduced to the Abbey and their situation with unicorns eating the special apples they need to make a delicious apple cider.  The sales of which would enable them to make necessary repairs on the Abbey.

Everything the monks try to get rid of the unicorns results in failure and not a little bit of drama! 

Next we meet James, who is a very curious boy.  His constant questions drives everyone around him a little crazy, except perhaps his older sister.  James is the son of a Duke who is off at war in Jerusalem and has not been heard of for so long, the family imagines he may have been killed in battle.  So James, although only a child now, may be taking on the role of Duke when he turns a certain age (fifteen if I remember).

For these various reasons, James is sent to the Abbey to study with the monks and the last third of the book covers these adventures.  Up until this time, I wasn't certain if I loved this book or not.  For the writing is a little different than I am used to (usually reading much longer novels and those written for an older age group).

But once James went to the Abbey, I fell in love with that little boy and with the book.  I absolutely loved the ending!  The language within the book is lyrical and quite fun to read, which is why I think it would make a perfect read aloud book.

I highly recommend this book as a read aloud for those not quite old enough to read themselves and most definitely as a book to read for kids who are good readers themselves.  Most boys would love it and quite a few girls I know, too.

You can find out more about A Plague of Unicorns at Amazon... here.

This book was given to me for the purpose of review by the publisher but the opinions are my own.