The Hero and the Crown [Paperback]

A Newbery Medal Winner

Although she is the daughter of Damar's king, Aerin has never been accepted as full royalty. Both in and out of the royal court, people whisper the story of her mother, the witchwoman, who was said to have enspelled the king into marrying her to get an heir to rule Damar-then died of despair when she found she had borne a daughter instead of a son. But none of them, not even Aerin herself, can predict her future-for she is to be the true hero who will wield the power of the Blue Sword...


“[The Hero and the Crown] confirms McKinley as an important writer of modern heroic fantasy, a genre whose giants include C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin.”—The Washington Post

“An utterly engrossing fantasy.”—The New York TimesRobin McKinley has won various awards and citations for her writing, including the Newbery Medal forThe Hero and the Crownand a Newbery Honor forThe Blue Sword. Her other books includeSunshine; theNew York TimesbestsellerSpindle's End; two novel-length retellings of the fairy taleBeauty and the Beast,Beauty and Rose Daughter; and a retelling of theRobin Hoodlegend,The Outlaws of Sherwood. She lives with her husband, the English writer Peter Dickinson.