Girl in a Cage (Stuart Quartet, 4) - Softcover

Yolen, Jane; Harris, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0142401323 ISBN 13: 9780142401323

Publisher: Speak, 2004

Synopsis

When her father, Robert the Bruce, becomes King of Scotland, Marjorie Bruce becomes a princess. But Edward Longshanks, the ruthless King of England, has set his sights on Robert and his family. Marjorie is captured and imprisoned in a wooden cage in the center of a town square, exposed to wind, rain, the taunts of the townspeople, and the scorn of Longshanks himself. Marjorie knows that despite her suffering and pain, she is the daughter of noble Robert the Bruce&150and she will make her father, and her country, proud. For a true princess is a princess, whether in a castle or in a cage.

About this title

About the Author

Born and raised in New York City, Jane Yolen now lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts. She attended Smith College and received her master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts. The distinguished author of more than 170 books, Jane Yolen is a person of many talents. When she is not writing, Yolen composes songs, is a professional storyteller on the stage, and is the busy wife of a university professor, the mother of three grown children, and a grandmother.

Active in several organizations, Yolen has been on the Board of Directors of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, was president of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1986 to 1988, is on the editorial board of several magazines, and was a founding member of the Western New England Storytellers Guild, the Western Massachusetts Illustrators Guild, and the Bay State Writers Guild. For twenty years, she ran a monthly writer's workshop for new children's book authors. In 1980, when Yolen was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree by Our Lady of the Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts, the citation recognized that "throughout her writing career she has remained true to her primary source of inspiration--folk culture." Folklore is the "perfect second skin," writes Yolen. "From under its hide, we can see all the shimmering, shadowy uncertainties of the world." Folklore, she believes, is the universal human language, a language that children instinctively feel in their hearts.

All of Yolen's stories and poems are somehow rooted in her sense of family and self. The Emperor and the Kite, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1983 for its intricate papercut illustrations by Ed Young, was based on Yolen's relationship with her late father, who was an international kite-flying champion. Owl Moon, winner of the 1988 Caldecott Medal for John Schoenherr's exquisite watercolors, was inspired by her husband's interest in birding.

Yolen's graceful rhythms and outrageous rhymes have been gathered in numerous collections. She has earned many awards over the years: the Regina Medal, the Kerlan Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Society of Children's Book Writers Award, the Mythopoetic Society's Aslan Award, the Christopher Medal, the Boy's Club Jr. Book Award, the Garden State Children's Book Award, the Daedalus Award, a number of Parents' Choice Magazine Awards, and many more. Her books and stories have been translated into Japanese, French, Spanish, Chinese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Afrikaans, !Xhosa, Portuguese, and Braille.

With a versatility that has led her to be called "America's Hans Christian Andersen," Yolen, the child of two writers, is a gifted and natural storyteller. Perhaps the best explanation for her outstanding accomplishments comes from Jane Yolen herself: "I don't care whether the story is real or fantastical. I tell the story that needs to be told."

copyright ? 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10-The coauthors of Queen's Own Fool (Philomel, 2000) present an equally compelling interpretation of an earlier period in Scotland's history told by another young protagonist. In 1306, a year has passed since patriot William "Braveheart" Wallace was executed, and things are not going well for the cause of Scottish freedom. Robert Bruce, newly crowned king of Scotland, has managed to evade his powerful enemy, Edward I of England, but many allies have been killed or taken. A recent capture is Bruce's 11-year-old daughter Marjorie. The princess finds herself conveyed to the English border town of Lanercost, locked in an iron cage, and displayed outdoors day and night by the decree of ailing King Edward, "Longshanks," himself. Marjorie's first-person narration of her captivity and the events leading up to it is exciting and moving, and her strategies for coping with a hideous imprisonment are models of ingenuity and staying true to oneself. The time line and afterword are helpful in understanding the historical context within which the authors place their well-wrought fictional tale.
Starr E. Smith, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Speak
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0142401323
• ISBN 13: 9780142401323
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 234