The Two Princesses of Bamarre: Part 1

By GAIL CARSON LEVINE

Out of a land laid waste

To a land untamed,

Monster ridden,

The lad Drualt led

A ruined ragtag band.

In his arms, tenderly,

He carried Bruce,

The child king,

First ruler of Bamarre.


So begins Drualt, the epic poem of Bamarre's greatest hero, our kingdom's ideal. Drualt fought Bamarre's monsters - the ogres, gryphons, spectres and dragons that still plague us - and he helped his sovereign found our kingdom.

Today Bamarre needed a hero more than ever. The monsters were slaughtering hundreds of Bamarrians ever year, and the Grey Death carried away even more.

I was no hero. The dearest wishes of my heart were for safety and tranquillity. The world was a perilous place, wrong for the likes of me.

Illustrator: Mel Grant

Publisher: HarperCollins

Age group: 8-11 yrs

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