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34th out of 353 books
—
920 voters
Queen's Own Fool (Stuart Quartet #1)
Called La Jardiniere, a resourceful and clever jester to the queen's court, Nicola was a most unlikely person to end up "fool" and friend to Mary, Queen of Scots. But Nicola isn't an ordinary comedian clowning before the court; her sharp tongue is rare amongst the fawning nobles. As fate takes Mary from France to Scotland, and into confrontations with rebellious lords and...more
Paperback, 390 pages
Published
November 12th 2001
by Puffin
(first published May 22nd 2000)
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Jane Yolen has a talent that is unfortunatly left to be undiscovered, sitting lonely on the bookshelf to gather dust. In her Scotland based quarted Jane Yolen writes witht the help of Robert J. Harris, a historian. She tells the tales of the commoners and their strugles to survive through an age in which the rules didn't always apply.
In the Queen's Own Fool, a young girl in a traveling troupe apeals to the queen of France, Mary Queen of Scots. Mary is married to the young and frail king of Fra...more
In the Queen's Own Fool, a young girl in a traveling troupe apeals to the queen of France, Mary Queen of Scots. Mary is married to the young and frail king of Fra...more
If you like historical fiction, you might enjoy this well written book of Mary Queen of Scots from the perspective of her fool Nicola Ambruzzi.
If you can suspend the disbelief that a court jester would be as intimate and friendly with the Queen, then read along in this magical tale of intrigue, back stabbing plots and incredible sadness as Nicola shows the beauty and the folly of her much loved Queen.
Traveling in a ragley, tagley troupe of entertainers, orphaned Nicola is a savvy, quick witted,...more
If you can suspend the disbelief that a court jester would be as intimate and friendly with the Queen, then read along in this magical tale of intrigue, back stabbing plots and incredible sadness as Nicola shows the beauty and the folly of her much loved Queen.
Traveling in a ragley, tagley troupe of entertainers, orphaned Nicola is a savvy, quick witted,...more
The story of Mary Queen of Scots, told from the perspective of a 12-year-old girl employed as the queen's own personal entertainer. I read this in two sittings and was up until 2 am finishing it last night. It certainly is a page-turner and Nicola doesn't disappoint as an independent, passionate, and funny observer of the events around Mary's stint as Queen of Scotland. I don't know how accurate it is, although Yolen seems to be a thorough researcher. The queen did have a fool named Nicola, but...more
When I checked this book out from the library, I was thinking it was about the "Anne of A Thousand Days" Queen, but it's not. It's about Mary, Queen of the Scots, and I think is fairly accurate when it comes to her comings and goings.
The great part is, it's told through the eyes of a very likable young woman named (why can't I ever remember their names????), but anyway, she starts out as a beaten down acrobat who catches the eye of Queen Mary (then queen of france) and is taken on as her court...more
The great part is, it's told through the eyes of a very likable young woman named (why can't I ever remember their names????), but anyway, she starts out as a beaten down acrobat who catches the eye of Queen Mary (then queen of france) and is taken on as her court...more
I thought this book was really excellent. I normally don't read books based on this time period because I think they can be really boring with all of the formalities but this book was actually pretty exciting. Its about Queen Mary, a Scottish queen who is first married to King Francis of France, making her queen of France as well until he dies. It is also about a young girl named Nicola, who the queen takes as her own royal fool when Nicola does a show for the queen in France. They become close...more
I really wanted to like this book. Historical fiction about the time period we are studying, Jane Yolen.....what's not to like? It was slow reading and overly detailed. The focus was heavily on the drama, romance, and intrigue that surrounded the queen and her court. Maybe I just don't care for this time period. There were many colloquial sayings that gave us pause to interpret and lots of rich vocabulary, and I definitely feel we all understand Mary Queen of Scots better now......so it has many...more
This book was a pleasant surprise. What a fun way to learn History about Mary, Queen of Scott, and 16th Century Scotland. -- I have to find the quick way to finish my challenges. If not, I wouldn’t have even considered reading it.
I loved Nicola and her innocent way of viewing the world. Tho, ill-fated and become orphan at young age, she still had positive views of the world. I enjoyed her (or rather the author’s) wits and humors. I was laughing with her at times, especially with the Troupe Bruf...more
I loved Nicola and her innocent way of viewing the world. Tho, ill-fated and become orphan at young age, she still had positive views of the world. I enjoyed her (or rather the author’s) wits and humors. I was laughing with her at times, especially with the Troupe Bruf...more
I enjoyed the level of historical detail regarding Mary, Queen of Scots. It was kind of funny though that Nicola was apparently unaware of her own wit. I would have thought that the job of a Fool would involve being very much aware of your word choice and what was meant by those words, but Nicola often seemed to say witty things with double meanings purely by chance. Because of Nicola's own ignorance regarding the realities of certain events, the book is an interesting vignette of Mary, Queen of...more
Although the beginning of this book was a bit slow, I soon found myself drawn in to the story of politics and intrigue surrounding Mary, Queen of Scots. The story is told from the POV of Nicola, a young woman who caught the Queen's attention as part of a travelling entertainers. The Queen, appreciative of Nicola's habit of telling the truth, invites her to become the Queen's Own Fool; her only job is to always tell the Queen the truth, no matter what, and remind her that she is a mere mortal. Ni...more
This is a fictionalized version of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, told from the death of her French husband in 1559 until she fled Scotland around 1570 to place herself in the hands of Elizabeth of England. It is told from the point of view of her fool, La Jardinere. Little is known about La Jardinere except that she was female and was sent home to France when Mary went to England. Much is known about Mary so the story is historically accurate although the interpretation of the events are fic...more
This historical fiction book is FANTASTIC. I read it several years ago as a kid and loved it so much. Not only is it interesting, but it is incredibly historically accurate. This would be a great read in the classroom for a study on this era for England and Scotland - this book is mostly about Mary, Queen of Scots, but different groups could read different books on Henry VIII, or Queen Elizabeth, or Bloody Mary, or Edward VI(perhaps The Prince and the Pauper). This is one of my favorite time per...more
A very compelling Historical Fiction novel. Some parts of it were a little slow moving and dull, mostly because the writing didn't hold much emotion, but historically it was amazing. Historical Novels have to be really good for me to enjoy them, and I really enjoyed this one, not because of the vivid language or overflowing emotions, but because it painted a very clear, detailed portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots and her life through a character that is easy to identify with.
It was an easy read a...more
It was an easy read a...more
So for a YA book about Mary Queen of Scots, I suppose this is good. However, there is one huge problem.
Here's the problem. In movie trailer format.
Watch Nicola escape her evil uncle!
Thrill to Nicola's escape from her evil governess!
Discover Nicola's amazing ability to foresee the future!
Gasp as Nicola saves the Queen who should list to her fool!
Soundtrack availbe now, including the hit song, "The Perfect Mary Sue".
In other words, it would be a much better story if Nicola didn't seem to have 20/2...more
Here's the problem. In movie trailer format.
Watch Nicola escape her evil uncle!
Thrill to Nicola's escape from her evil governess!
Discover Nicola's amazing ability to foresee the future!
Gasp as Nicola saves the Queen who should list to her fool!
Soundtrack availbe now, including the hit song, "The Perfect Mary Sue".
In other words, it would be a much better story if Nicola didn't seem to have 20/2...more
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Well, I loved this book. Nothing more to it. I even stole my middle school teacher's copy, just because I loved it.
Reason? Well...
-The narrator has a voice, and a very strong one at that. She runs away from a bad life with her uncle and siblings of her own accord. That's gutsy, as are her antics. I liked that.
-A lot of interesting things happen, but it wasn't so action-packed that I never had a moment to breathe. See, there were a lot of small details to ponder and let me feed off of without Yol...more
Reason? Well...
-The narrator has a voice, and a very strong one at that. She runs away from a bad life with her uncle and siblings of her own accord. That's gutsy, as are her antics. I liked that.
-A lot of interesting things happen, but it wasn't so action-packed that I never had a moment to breathe. See, there were a lot of small details to ponder and let me feed off of without Yol...more
I'm pretty sure I would have really enjoyed this as a 12 year old girl. I read it in anticipation of Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles. That one is such a brick, I thought it would be good to have an outline. This one was just that- an outline. I'm sure dates and names were fairly accurate, there just wasn't enough detail to make me care about Mary.
I really enjoyed this book and read it in three days, with my usual amount of schoolwork is amazing. Anyways, the story is about Nicola a half French/half Italian tumbler who becomes Mary Queen of Scots' fool or jester. The book covers their adventures together from when Mary is the young queen of France, on to actually becoming the Queen of Scots, till she surrenders herself to Elizabeth I. I loved the detailed nature of the book and the in-depth history.
Nicola's acting troupe performs for the new queen and king of France. She impresses the queen with her sense and truth-telling. She becomes the queen's fool and travels with Mary, Queen of Scots, to Scotland after the death of the French king. After many upheavals and political plotting, she must leave the queen to be imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth and flees with her new husband to France.
J Yolen
Based on the true hi9storical experiences of Mary Queen of Scots, the story is told from the point of view of a young girl who was practically an orphan before Queen Mary appoints her as her "fool" - a clever girl who is good with words and telling the truth. The girl looks up to Mary and Mary needs the girl. Very good historical fiction.
Based on the true hi9storical experiences of Mary Queen of Scots, the story is told from the point of view of a young girl who was practically an orphan before Queen Mary appoints her as her "fool" - a clever girl who is good with words and telling the truth. The girl looks up to Mary and Mary needs the girl. Very good historical fiction.
This is a young adult novel telling the story of le Jardiniere, the fool of Mary Queen of Scots. Le Jardiniere was a real person, but virtually nothing is known about her, save her position and name. Yolen and Harris have created an Italian girl of unusual candor and humor to fill this role. Yolen is a veteran YA writer and I would recommend pretty much anything by her. Fool begins in France where may was also queen by virtue of marriage, it follows Mary and her entourage through political intri...more
This book has all the good reasons why I love historical fiction. The author successfully created a page-turning book. When I picked up this book, the author's name sounded familiar. Sure enough, Jane Yolen has written the children's series "How Do Dinosaurs..." I was unaware that she has written adult books as well. Great book.
I actually thought that the idea of having the majority of Mary Stuart's life as told by a close confidante was a very clever idea. What was also more clever was how the confidante in question knows next to nothing about court, and as with most of the readers, learns more about court and its intrigues as the book goes along.
"Doomed queens" seems to have become my summer reading theme: first Anne Boleyn, now Mary Queen of Scots. This book was fun to start with, and is well done (Jane Yolen always delivers), but the sense of impending doom is starting to get to me. It's not half as bad as The Other Boleyn Girl, which had me longing for Anne's decapitation when I was only halfway through the book, but still, I don't know how Yolen and Harris can faithfully describe the horrors of Mary's later life and death in a way t...more
I've never been a fan of Mary, Queen of Scots, so I picked this book up with some hesitation. On the other hand, Jane Yolen is a master writer, so it was a pleasure to read and I was very glad to see that while the main character adores Mary, Mary's flaws are very much in evidence.
Anyway, it was an easy read, entrancing enough, but I'm glad to be done with it.
Anyway, it was an easy read, entrancing enough, but I'm glad to be done with it.
This could have been a good story - Queen Mary of Scotland's story told from the point of view of her jester - but every time something important is happening, the girl gets knocked unconscious. There's no point in a "mouse eye" view of historical events if she doesn't actually see them.
This is one of the best books I have ever read! The characters are lively. The scenes descriptive. The book doesn't have a central plot. But rather the life of Mary, Queens of Scots picking up shortly after her marraige to King Francis. Nicola was one of best and wittiest heroines ever!
A very intriguing look into the Mary Queen of Scot's life through the eyes of her "La Jardiniere." I admit I didn't know much about the Queen, but after reading this I am inspired to do more research on her. I enjoyed reading this book.
Brilliant, it truly was although after reading this it makes me very, very sympathetic to Queen Mary and what happened to her. I loved how the characters were portrayed, they were amazing! The Queen, the Maries and Jardinière were my most favourite! The other characters were brilliant as well! Knox I found was extremely annoying same applies for the rest of the back stabbers.
Loved how everything was set out, I'm assuming there are some facts in the book, not sure about the events, but they were...more
Loved how everything was set out, I'm assuming there are some facts in the book, not sure about the events, but they were...more
Yolen's remarkable voice is evident in this YA historical novel about Mary Queen of Scots from the point of view of her fool. Lovely historical detail and much better done than some more recent kings-n-queens fictionalizations.
Most depictions of Mary Queen of Scots I've seen show her as either unsympathetic or a little stupid. But this book shows, through the eyes of her fool, how she went from a beloved queen in France to a prisoner of her own Scottish lords and then her cousin Elizabeth.
I thought this was a wonderful book, with a touching, intriguing story. It was one of the very first books that ever made me cry. I thoroughly enjoyed reading, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
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Yolen was born at Beth Israel Hospital, the first child of Isabel Berlin and Will Hyatt Yolen. She and her family moved to California when she was young but returned to New York a few years later. After her younger brother was born, her father joined the army and served on the European front during WWII. Yolen spent her childhood taking piano lessons, ballet dancing and writing a neighborhood news...more
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