Rampant
By Diana Peterfreund
(HarperTeen, Hardcover, 9780061490002, 416pp.)
Publication Date: August 6, 2009
Categories: Social Issues - Friendship, Girls & Women, Legends, Myths, & Fables - General
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Selected by Indie Booksellers for the Winter 2009 Kids' ListForget everything you ever knew about unicorns . . .
Real unicorns are venomous, man-eating monsters with huge fangs and razor-sharp horns. Fortunately, they've been extinct for a hundred and fifty years.
Or not.
Astrid had always scoffed at her eccentric mother's stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend—thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to the prom—Astrid finds herself headed to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter at the ancient cloisters the hunters have used for centuries.
However, at the cloisters all is not what it seems. Outside, the unicorns wait to attack. And within, Astrid faces other, unexpected threats: from the crumbling, bone-covered walls that vibrate with a terrible power to the hidden agendas of her fellow hunters to—perhaps most dangerously of all—her growing attraction to a handsome art student . . . an attraction that could jeopardize everything.
Diana Peterfreund has lain in silence on a forest floor while a panther stalked its prey nearby. She's swum with sharks in the Great Barrier Reef, lived next door to a very lonely alligator, let piranhas nibble on her toes, and watched as a hyena seriously considered eating her husband. She's seen all kinds of predators, but nothing scares her more than unicorns. To write this book, she visited taxidermy studios, sat in tree stands, climbed into ancient tombs (armed with nothing more than a flashlight), traveled all over Italy, and learned that shooting a bow is a lot harder than it looks. A graduate of Yale University, she now lives in Washington, D.C., and has written five books for adults and teens.
"RAMPANT is a thrilling read, with strong girls, unusual and scary unicorns, and hidden dangers everywhere. I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish! Please, miss: might I have some more?"
-Tamora Pierce
"A fresh folklore twist amid the wave of vampires and zombies."
-Kirkus Reviews
"With an atmospheric setting, personable ensemble cast and some reasoned discussions about virginity, this gripping page-turner evokes the same grrl-power spirit as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, packed with action, mystery and a complex and intriguing mythology."
-Publishers Weekly
"As swift and sure-footed as a killer unicorn, RAMPANT weaves a vibrant new mythology from venerable threads."
-Scott Westerfeld, author of the Uglies series
"Tired of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Try Astrid the unicorn hunter."
-Locus
This book is on these lists:
Hopesbookshelf's Wish List by hopesbookshelfBgonzalez's Wish List by bgonzalez
Twitter Book Parties by Mitali Perkins
Saundramitchell's Wish List by saundramitchell
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