"A Plague of Unicorns" by Jane Yolen

About this book:

  “It never was a fair fight.

  Young James, the duke’s son, asks too many questions. At least that’s what everyone at Callander Castle thinks after all but the last of his tutors quit and his uncle ships him off to be educated at Cranford Abbey. Unfortunately, the once-beautiful abbey has problems of its own, including cracked walls, a leaking roof, and shattered stained glass windows. Not to mention the pesky herd of unicorns that continues to enter the abbey’s orchards and claim them as their own.

  The only hope to save the abbey, it seems, is money raised by Abbot Aelian’s golden apple cider, made from a recipe passed down in his family for generations. But that means getting rid of the orchard’s unwelcome visitors. And as everyone knows, unicorns have very sharp horns. Monks do not.

  James has an idea that could help defeat these hungry beasts, but first must find someone to listen to him. For once, he might be the only one asking the right questions. And the only one who knows the perfect hero for the job.”


Series: It is a stand-alone as of now.

Spiritual Content- Abbots, monks and priests; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of prayers & praying; The golden apples are called Hosanna golden apples because the first abbot said “Hosanna!” when he saw them; A mention of a painting of unicorns being in Eden; The monks believe that the unicorn is “thought to be the animal avatar of the Christ”; Mentions of being in the Saviour’s footsteps; James asks “Did Lucifer hurt anyone when he fell to earth?” and other questions about heaven;

*Note: A mention or two of magic, wizardry and incantation; When James sees something he doesn’t recognize “Or perhaps it’s the Wild Hunt headed by Herne the Hunter, who goes racing through the forest hunting down the souls of the damned, the Hound of Hell, baying at his horse’s feet.”; a unicorn is called a “horned imp of Satan!”.

Negative Content- A mention or two of a unicorn’s sharp horn & them piercing monks; A mention that “”Apple pudding” was something frightened children did in their pants.”.

Sexual Content- On the topic of women in the abbey: “And a maiden—as any fool could tell you—is never allowed in a monastery or on monastery lands. No girls. None. Never. It’s an absolute rule.”; James asks where babies come from (no one really answers but there are mumbles about a stork or a cabbage patch, which James doesn’t buy), James then wonders if the monks would know.

-James, age 9
                                         P.O.V. of James with the first three chapters in a story-telling way

                                              Set in the 1600s (I’m guessing on this)
                                                        368 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

(and a half)

Early High School Teens-

(and a half)

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating- 

“A Plague of Unicorns” was aimed for a much younger audience then I normally read (it even had pictures/illustrations!) but I really enjoyed it! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I thought I would give it a try. It was so cute! I really liked James’ personality and though the writing style was different, I liked it too!

   “”If I didn’t ask questions, how would I know when I had the wrong answers?””

We like how you think, James. ;)

See y’all on Friday with a new review! :)

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Zonderkidz) for this review.