Quest for a Maid

"When I was nine years old, I hid under a table and heard my sister kill a king."
Meg's sister Inge is a witch, and the spell she uses to kill King Alexander sets in motion a power struggle which threatens to tear Scotland apart. When Meg is chosen for the perilous journey to bring the rightful queen home to rule, she finds herself challenging Inge's power, and discovering more strength in herself than anyone knew she had. (Swiped from the back cover.)

Quest for a Maid, by Frances Mary Hendry, is a wonderful quasi-historical fiction adventure-fantasy story that I highly recommend. With interesting and skillfully drawn characters and complex relationships, the vividly portrayed setting of thirteenth-century Scotland and Norway, and a goodly amount of peril and intrigue, it's a highly original, fast-paced (once it gets going, which granted doesn't happen immediately), absorbing read. An altogether excellent book.

Grade: A+

N.B. Some profanity, but I didn't find it gratuitous. The target audience is probably the younger half of the teen range, but it never felt too young for me.