Title The Unicorn in the Barn Series --- Author Jacqueline K. Ogburn Illustrator Rebecca Green Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company - 2017 First Printing Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company - 2017 Category Middle Grad Warnings None Main Characters Eric Harper, Allegra Main Elements Unicorns

For years people have claimed to see a mysterious white deer in the woods around Chinaberry Creek. It always gets away. One evening, Eric Harper thinks he spots it. But a deer doesn’t have a coat that shimmers like a pearl. And a deer certainly isn’t born with an ivory horn curling from its forehead. When Eric discovers the unicorn is hurt and being taken care of by the vet next door and her daughter, Allegra, his life is transformed. He is thrust into a world of magical creatures just as his world at home starts to fall apart.

A tender tale of love, loss, and the connections we make, The Unicorn in the Barn shows us that sometimes ordinary life takes extraordinary turns.

This was a lovely book. It's a children's book but adult enough for me to really enjoy it. A young boy is dealing with the fact his grandmother had a stroke and for money, had to sell her farm, though they kept the woods as part of their own property. A mother and daughter move in and open a veterinary clinic. But it's not just any clinic, as the boy sees a unicorn go there for help to heal a damaged hoof.

Stories of children secretly taking care of magical animals aren't new. Nor the idea of there being a secret family legacy of doing the same. But on top of having to deal with the discovery of this new world, Eric has to deal with the loss of the old one. Going into what was once his grandmother's bedroom and seeing an operating table for example. Of his grandmother being in the hospital and not being able to come home. These kinds of changes can be hard to deal with. At the same time, would you give up on an opportunity to help a unicorn mare give birth to twin foals? And don't forget the squonk...it sings!

And of course there's the talking Cheshire cat whose middle went invisible and couldn't change back so he's a slightly disturbing floating head and tail. I may love unicorns, but I also love cats, and this guy was adorable.

I'd been trying for a few years to get ahold of a copy of this book and I'm glad I finally found it in the library. I really enjoyed it and its highly recommended for kids that love animals, or magic, or both.