New Releases by Robin McKinley

A Christian children''s book helping kids understand the Fruit of the Spirit

From enchanted princesses to a frog that speaks, an enchanting collection of fairy tales from the Newbery Medal–winning author of The Hero and the Crown . The last mortal kingdom before the unmeasured sweep of Faerieland begins has at best held an uneasy truce with its unpredictable neighbor. There is nothing to show a boundary, at least on the mortal side of it; and if any ordinary human creature ever saw a faerie—or at any rate recognized one—it was never mentioned; but the existence of the boundary and of faeries beyond it is never in doubt either. So begins "The Stolen Princess," the first story of this collection, about the meeting between the human princess Linadel and the faerie prince Donathor. "The Princess and the Frog" concerns Rana and her unexpected alliance with a small, green, flipper-footed denizen of a pond in the palace gardens. "The Hunting of the Hind" tells of a princess who has bewitched her beloved brother, hoping to beg some magic of cure, for her brother is dying, and the last tale is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses in which an old soldier discovers, with a little help from a lavender-eyed witch, the surprising truth about where the princesses dance their shoes to tatters every night.

Stories from the world of The Hero and the Crown and other magical places by a New York Times –bestselling Newbery Medal winner. Robin McKinley returns to the mythical setting of The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword in this "thrilling, satisfying, and thought-provoking collection" featuring two stories set in the world of Damar, plus three other fantasy tales featuring adventurous, pragmatic, and heroic young women ( Publishers Weekly). There''s mute Lily, in "The Healer," who has the power to help others, and receives a startling opportunity to find her voice when a mysterious mage stumbles into town. And Queen Ruen, who is at the mercy of a power-hungry uncle until she encounters a shape-changer in "The Stagman." In "Touk''s House," a maiden who has grown up with a witch and a troll has a chance to become a princess, but she must decide whether she would really live happily ever after. When a curse follows Coral to her new husband''s farm in "Buttercups," the pair has a choice: Succumb to defeat or find a way to turn a disastrous enchantment into a fruitful new venture. Finally, travel to upstate New York with Annabelle. In the title story, her family moves shortly after her sixteenth birthday, and just as she starts to adjust to her new life in a small town, a plan to build a superhighway threatens her new home. But a strange box hidden in a secret attic in the new house may be the answer. A delightful assortment of tales from an author with "a remarkable talent for melding the real and the magical into a single, believable whole" ( Booklist).

From the Newbery Medal–winning author of The Hero and the Crown, a princess flees her home to escape her father''s abuse and finds an unexpected new life. Princess Lissla Lissar is the only child of the king and his queen, who was the most beautiful woman in seven kingdoms. Everyone loved the splendid king and his matchless queen so much that no one had any attention to spare for the princess, who grew up in seclusion. But the queen takes ill of a mysterious wasting disease and on her deathbed extracts a strange promise from her husband: "I want you to promise me . . . you will only marry someone as beautiful as I was." The king is crazy with grief at her loss, and slow to regain both his wits and his strength. But on Lissar''s seventeenth birthday, two years after the queen''s death, there is a grand ball, and everyone present looks at the princess in astonishment and whispers to their neighbors, How like her mother she is! On the day after the ball, the king announces that he is to marry again—and that his bride is the princess Lissla Lissar, his own daughter. Lissar, physically broken, half mad, and terrified, flees her father''s deranged desire with her one loyal friend, her sighthound, Ash. It is the beginning of winter as they journey into the mountains—and on the night when it begins to snow, they find a tiny, deserted cabin with the makings of a fire ready-laid in the hearth. Thus begins Lissar''s long, profound, and demanding journey away from treachery and pain and horror, to trust and love and healing.

“The Contest” is an illustrated children’s book teaching children what the Fruit of the Spirit is in a story about a farmer who wants to have the biggest, the juiciest, the plumpest, and the sweetest grapes in the whole county. Each grape has its own captivating personality which depicts a different fruit of the Spirit that your children will fall in love with. The unpredictable twist at the end teaches the most valuable lesson of all. It will allow children of all ages grow to be what God wants them to be. “The Contest” has been a favorite for countless children throughout the years.

Because of a thousand-year-old alliance between humans and pegasi, Princess Sylviianel is ceremonially bound to Ebon, her own pegasus, on her twelfth birthday. The two species coexist peacefully, despite the language barriers separating them. Humans and pegasi both rely on specially-trained Speaker magicians as the only means of real communication. But it’s different for Sylvi and Ebon. They can understand each other. They quickly grow close—so close that their bond becomes a threat to the status quo—and possibly to the future safety of their two nations.

"There are places in the world where darkness rules, where it's unwise to walk. Sunshine knew that. But there hadn't been any trouble out at the lake for years, and she needed a place to be alone for a while. Unfortunately, she wasn't alone. She never heard them coming. Of course you don't, when they're vampires. They took her clothes and sneakers. They dressed her in a long red gown. And they shackled her to the wall of an abandoned mansion-within easy reach of a figure stirring in the moonlight. She knows that he is a vampire. She knows that she's to be his dinner, and that when he is finished with her, she will be dead. Yet, as dawn breaks, she finds that he has not attempted to harm her. And now it is he who needs her to help him survive the day ..."--Jacket.

Master storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson, the team behind Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits, collaborate again to create five captivating tales incorporating the element of fire.In McKinley's "First Flight," a boy and his pet foogit unexpectedly take a dangerous ride on a dragon, and her "Hellhound" stars a mysterious dog as a key player in an eerie graveyard showdown. Dickinson introduces a young man who must defeat the creature threatening his clan in "Fireworm," a slave who saves his village with a fiery magic spell in "Salamander Man," and a girl whose new friend, the guardian of a mystical bird, is much older than he appears in "Phoenix."With time periods ranging from prehistoric to present day, and settings as varied as a graveyard, a medieval marketplace and a dragon academy, these stories are sure to intrigue and delight the authors' longtime fans and newcomers alike.

As the newly appointed Chalice, Mirasol is the most important member of the Master's Circle. It is her duty to bind the Circle, the land and its people together with their new Master. But the new Master of Willowlands is a Priest of Fire, only drawn back into the human world by the sudden death of his brother. No one knows if it is even possible for him to live amongst his people. Mirasol wants the Master to have his chance, but her only training is as a beekeeper. How can she help settle their demesne during these troubled times and bind it to a Priest of Fire, the touch of whose hand can burn human flesh to the bone?Robin McKinley weaves a captivating tale that reveals the healing power of duty and honor, love and honey.

Jake Mendoza lives at the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies in Smokehill National Park. Smokehill is home to about two hundred of the few remaining draco australiensis, which is extinct in the wild. Keeping a preserve for dragons is controversial: detractors say dragons are extremely dangerous and unjustifiably expensive to keep and should be destroyed. Environmentalists and friends say there are no records of them eating humans and they are a unique example of specialist evolution and must be protected. But they are up to eighty feet long and breathe fire.On his first overnight solo trek, Jake finds a dragon—a dragon dying next to the human she killed. Jake realizes this news could destroy Smokehill— even though the dead man is clearly a poacher who had attacked the dragon first, that fact will be lost in the outcry against dragons.But then Jake is struck by something more urgent—he sees that the dragon has just given birth, and one of the babies is still alive. What he decides to do will determine not only their futures, but the future of Smokehill itself.

Master storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson share tales of mysterious merfolk and magical humans, all with close ties to the element of water. From Pitiable Nasmith''s miserable existence in a seaside town whose inhabitants are more intertwined with the sea than most people know, to Tamia''s surprising summons to be the apprentice to the Guardian who has the power to hold back the sea, each of the six stories illuminates a captivating world filled with adventure, romance, intrigue, and enchantment. Robin McKinley fans will recognize one of the worlds included-Damar, the setting of Newbery Medal winner The Hero and the Crown and Newbery Honor Book The Blue Sword.

Newbery Award-winning author and fantasy icon Robin McKinley writes stories that enchant readers. Bringing together three of her most popular novels--Spindle''s End, The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword--this boxed set is the perfect gift for her fans.

The evil fairy Pernicia has set a curse on Princess Briar-Rose: she is fated to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into an endless, poisoned sleep. Katriona, a young fairy, kidnaps the princess in order to save her; she and her aunt raise the child in their small village, where no one knows her true identity. But Pernicia is looking for her, intent on revenge for a defeat four hundred years old. Robin McKinley's masterful version of Sleeping Beauty is, like all of her work, a remarkable literary feat.

A child and her new puppy work through the difficult initial adjustments and soon belong to each other.