An outcast princess must earn her birthright as a hero of the realm—in this "utterly engrossing" Newbery Medal–winning fantasy ( The New York Times ).

Aerin is an outcast in her own father's court, daughter of the foreign woman who, it was rumored, was a witch who enchanted the king to marry her.

That is, until the day that the king is riding out at the head of an army. A weary man on an exhausted horse staggers into the courtyard where the king's troop is assembled: "The Black Dragon has come . . . Maur, who has not been seen for generations, the last of the great dragons, great as a mountain. Maur has awakened."

When Aerin learns of the threat, she knows this is the moment she was born for. Her chance to prove herself worthy to lead. Saddling her horse, she heads into battle with Maur—-and discovers her destiny. . . .