Tales of the Borderlands Bk. 1:
Northlander
by Meg Burden

    NORTHLANDER by Meg Burden
    Category:  Fantasy
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  10/24/07
    Publisher:  Brown Barn Books
    Reviewed by:  Allison Fraclose
    Rating:  5 Stars


    The Southling Ellin has been summoned with her father to the Northland kingdom. In a land where they are
    despised for their red hair and feared for their magic, their hand in the healing of the Northland king is a secret.
    However, the healing powers that have been banned by law may be the only thing that can save the ailing king.

    On a crucial night, Ellin must fight against the prejudice that threatens to keep her from fulfilling the oaths that her
    father, as a healer, took, and that she will take on the day she is of age. Her determination manages to pull the
    monarch through the worst, but, while she learns that the potential for peace among individual Northlands and
    Southlings exists, she and her father are forbidden to return to their homeland until the king regains consciousness.

    The friendships that she forges will bring her through a time when all she once understood about her life is
    destroyed, and she must find a way to come to terms with the power she’s inherited and the truth she has grown to
    understand before a war sweeps away everything she has left.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and recommend it to all who have found themselves on both sides of a drawn line.
    The characters are easy to identify with, and the plot rich and relevant. I will be keeping an eager eye out for Book
    Two.