The Queen's Own Fool: A Novel of Mary Queen of Scots

Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris have created a unique novel in The Queen's Own Fool. They selected a real person in Nicola but have fictionalized a few events and her charming voice to tell the story of Mary Queen of Scots.

Mary and Nicola find that they have more in common than what one would think. At the beginning of the story Nicola, a member of a traveling acrobatic troop, promises to always tell the queen the truth. Though she breaks this promise a few times, Nicola's loyalty and sense of duty to the queen drive the plot when every reader would think that the end is impending for Mary.

I think this book is a great choice for an addition to a middle school or high school library because reading it gives young people an opportunity to learn more about an actual person in history and actual events in history. I am sure the the emotional parts of the story between Queen Mary and Nicola are very fictionalized. However, the historical content of the deaths of Mary's husbands and her final end are very true. Students will also learn a string of moral lessons about trust and truth telling. Also, the intelligence in Nicola's wit might be lost on some young readers. Her jokes are clever, often exercising the use of puns, and as an adult I found this book deeply funny.

Yolen, Jane. & Robert J. Harris. The Queen's Own Fool: A Novel of Mary Queen of Scots. Philomel Boks: New York, NY. ISBN 9-780399-233807.