THE STOLEN ONE
by Suzanne Crowley
Mystery and magic surround Katherine “Kat” Bab, a spirited 16-year-old with wild red hair her omen-wary adoptive mother Grace calls “wolf bait.” Kat, who never knew her birth parents, is told no one wants her—except for the farmer’s son she’s expected to marry. Independent-minded Kat wants no part of it and sets off for London with her deaf sister Anna to unearth the truth of her parentage. When Queen Elizabeth zeroes in on fellow redhead Kat in a chance street encounter, the country lass goes royal: Her extraordinary embroidering skills land her in the queen’s court, and the plot thickens as Kat finds herself circled by eager suitors… and those jealous of her sudden intimacy with the queen. Is she, as is rumored, the Virgin Queen’s daughter? Clues to Kat’s true identity are dropped for readers like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumbs. As they revel in Kat’s clear-as-a-bell, first-person observations of Tudor England’s dangerous liaisons and fairy-tale gowns, teens will also relate to a girl who struggles not only to find her place but to know her heart. (epilogue, family tree, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 14 & up)