Into the land of the unicorns by Bruce Coville

When the stranger starts chasing Cara and her grandmother, Cara has no idea that she will soon leave the world behind, and that a great adventure waits for her in the land of Luster - the land of the Unicorns.  Luster is a strange world, a place where there are all kinds of animals and creatures, including beautiful unicorns that fled the Hunters of our world many years before.  Lost and alone, Cara finds she is not alone for long when a young unicorn named Lightfoot becomes her friend and agrees to take her to the Old One to pass on her grandmothers message.  But Cara did not come to Luster alone, and when she finds out who the stranger is, her whole world could fall apart.

Into the land of the unicorns is the first book in the unicorn chronicles series, and while it is a really old book now (older than most of the people who would read it no doubt) it is the first book in a charming series that will appeal to younger fantasy readers - even those boys who think that unicorns are just for girls.  The land of Luster is not all sweetness and nice, there are bad guys here, and there are forces at work that will do anything to stop the unicorns and hunt them to extinction.  Without giving away too much of the story we discover a lot of the history of Luster and people through Cara's eyes as she learns more about herself and where she came from. 

This is a not too difficult, not too easy, fantasy for younger readers who want to read something that is interesting and engaging, without the story being too difficult to read.  Bruce Coville is a great author for younger readers with a vivid imagination (Coville and the children he writes for) and he will keep them entertained with his well crafted tales.

If you like this book then try:

• Song of the wanderer by Bruce Coville
• Dark whispers by Bruce Coville
• The last hunt by Bruce Coville
• Jeremy Thatcher, dragon hatcher by Bruce Coville
• My teacher fried my brains by Bruce Coville
• Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda
• The golden door by Emily Rodda
• Gorilla city by Charlie Small

Reviewed by Brilla