Books with author Kathleen A. Duffy

The long hard winter is at last over, but time is running out for Heart and her beloved unicorns. Heart is convinced that the old man from Castle Avamir can help her find her family - the only people she dares to trust with the Unicorn's secret. But the old man has been taken prisoner by Lord Dunraven. Heart's search for the truth is leading her into the most dangerous place of all: the depths of Dunraven's heavily guarded castle. Heart's quest is nearing its end - and what awaits her is beyond her wildest dreams...

Nine-year-old Lara is the daughter of the r?-the leader of her cattle-raising clan. While she spends her days tending to the cattle, her heart lies with her beloved gray mare. When Lara goes to the highlands to set the cattle out to graze, she finds the mare in the process of a difficult birth. Lara vows to take care of the foal as a dying promise to the gray mare, and with the help of a childless milk-cow, she cares for the spindly-legged filly. But just when she is confident that the foal can survive, a rival clan captures them both, and throws Lara's life into turmoil. When the filly is eventually given to a titled baron in the castle town of Athenry, Lara, determined to stay with the horse no matter what, goes along. Together, she and her beloved horse face seemingly insurmountable challenges, but all along Lara keeps two things in mind. One day, she will manage to flee, and will set off in search of the family that she was taken from. And she will not leave without her silver mare.

An orphaned girl, a unicorn, a journey - follow Heart on her quest as she travels into the realms of legend in this thrilling new fantasy for young readers. Heart has no family. Found abandoned as a baby, she now lives a hard and lonely life in the dusty village of Ash Grove. Then one day she finds a scarred, skinny horse in the forest. Against the wishes of her meanspirited guardian, Simon, Heart adopts the mare and names her Avamir. When she realises Avamir is in foal, Heart is thrilled. And so too is Simon - now he has two horses he can sell to the slaughterhouse instead of one. But when the colt is born, Heart finds him weak and with a strange bump on his forehead. A bump that begins to crack open, to reveal a silver point beneath...Heart realises that the horses are actually unicorns, magical creatures from ancient legend. But why are they here? And how is their destiny linked with Heart's own? Being creatures of legends, Heart is afraid that if the unicorns aren't lead away from Ash Grove they will surely be captured and killed by the superstitious villagers. Can she find a way to protect them, and the only love she has ever known?