Prior to 5th grade, I hated reading. By the time I entered 6th grade, I loved it. What happened? Mrs. Madigan happened. She read books to us after recess and that was the highlight of my day. She read the Indian in the Cupboard, The Fourth Grade Nothing, and many other books. There was no comprehension quiz after, no vocabulary lists attached, and no pressure. I lay on the carpet at her feet, listened to her read, realized some reading could be purely for pleasure, and fell hopelessly in love with books.
Somehow I stumbled onto a series of books called The Secret of the Unicorn Queen. I loved this series. I desperately wanted to go to this world of unicorns. At this time in my life I already had a long standing obsessions for all things horse. I read this series over and over. I didn’t often reread books back then. I do now because I’m forgetful.
In seventh grade I had a 30 minute study hall period each day. I was real shy and didn’t have any friends in that class that I can recall. I wanted to enter that world, so I decided that since the books were written by several different authors, perhaps I could become the author of the next book in the series. Each day I wrote in my notebook. I still have the notebook with 40 something handwritten pages of my story. That year I asked my mom for an electronic typewriter. (Computers were impossibly expensive back in the late 80’s.) I typed several pages of my story that summer, but eventually the swimming pool beckoned, among other fun summer activities, and I abandoned the story. That was the beginning of my dreams of becoming a writer.
The Secret of the Unicorn Queen is about a girl, named Sheila, who had an absent minded scientist type neighbor. She accidentally falls through a portal in his house which transports her to a world of unicorns, warrior women, and evil magicians. She must survive this hostile world until her scientist friend can bring her back home. In the meantime, she gets involved in a rescue mission to save the unicorns from being slaughtered in an evil ritual. There is a rather handsome young man in the story to keep her distracted, survival training to learn, and a grueling pace to keep as they travel to save the unicorns.
These books are not high literature. They are books that young people can connect to and be entertained by.
This series is written by:
Josephina Sherman
Gwen Hansen
Dory Perlman
Suzanne Weyn
I just realized that I have several books on my classroom shelf by Weyn that I recommend to my kids all the time. Also, Sherman is the author of several Star Trek novels that I’ve read.
Language: none
Violence: none
Sexual Content: none
Substance Abuse: none
Overall rating: G
Quill and Books 
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