Warrior Girl: A Novel of Joan of Arc Book

A war-torn country waiting for a hero

An ebony box holding the key to a young orphan's life

A determined young woman who hears voices promising that she will save her beloved France

And another with no voice to say that her future is in peril

For centuries, Joan of Arc's legendary journey has spoken to readers' sense of adventure. Pauline Chandler's riveting novel delivers the tale with astonishing freshness and unflinching truth.

Claire Rosser - KLIATT

Our modern-day sensibilities are uncomfortable with the basic Joan of Arc story. A young girl seeing and hearing visions from God, urging her to take up arms and rescue France? It seems like madness. Apparently, a lot of folk in Jehanne's (Joan's) peasant society felt the same way. However, in a place torn apart by religious wars, fierce beliefs intensify. And this is the France of the 15th century, not the civilized secular society of Europe today. Chandler tells Jehanne's story through the narrative of Mariane, Jehanne's cousin, a girl mute from the trauma of her mother's murder by English marauders. At the end of the story, in 1456, many years after Jehanne's burning at the stake for heresy, Mariane and her family come to celebrate the exoneration of Jehanne (and the beginning of her path to eventual canonization in 1920). We realize in this final chapter that Mariane has her speech restored and she has found love and happiness in her life, even after the horrors of her early years. The numerous pages of the novel trace the journey of Jehanne, from her peasant home to the palace, to the battles, to her imprisonment and death--all seen through the eyes of Mariane. For the typical American YA, far from this story both in geographic and religious terms, reading about Joan of Arc will be a challenge. Chandler tells the story well, however, and certainly those YAs interested in saints and/or European history will appreciate her careful work. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2006, HarperCollins, Greenwillow, 354p., Ages 12 to 18.