Moonsilver (Unicorn's Secret #1)

Gr 2-4-The first title in a projected series of beginning chapter books introduces reluctant readers to Heart Avamir, an abandoned girl with no memory of her origins, who wakes up one day in a strange feudal community. She lives with the hard-hearted curmudgeon who found her, but it is the neighborhood apothecary, Ruth, who names and befriends her. When the girl finds a wounded mare limping around untethered, she claims it for her own and nurses it back to health despite her guardian's protests that the animal would be better off sold for slaughter. In addition to the limp, the mare bears a deep scar on its forehead, which Ruth acknowledges but is a bit too quick to dismiss. Readers will already have guessed that the mare is really a disfigured unicorn and that Heart, who was found wearing a blanket emblazoned with unicorn figures, is destined to care for the animal. Duey uses simple but evocative language; few words are more than two syllables long. The text is set with wide leading and interspersed throughout with moody, evocative black-and-white illustrations. A cliff-hanging ending rounds out this portion of the narrative. This is a good alternative for children who have outgrown easy-readers but who are not quite ready for longer, denser works of fiction.-Catherine Threadgill, DeKalb County Public Library, Atlanta, GA Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.