The Sign of the Owl
 
To 15-year-old Wint, son of the Duke of Gaumont, there’s nothing more valuable than serving his father as squire. But he’s denied the chance when his cousin Frederick bests him in a tourney and wins the coveted position instead.
Shortly afterward, Wint discovers Frederick’s treachery in betraying the duke to the scheming Lord Claude, but although Wint tries to warn his father, he’s not in time to avert disaster.

Escaping the beleaguered castle while under attack, Wint manages to save the sacred sword Scamoural from falling into enemy hands. With it, Wint hopes to raise an army of loyalists to wage battle against Lord Claude. But the boy’s hold on the sword is tenuous, and his quest is fraught with far more danger and disappointment than he could ever imagine.
DC: I wrote this young adult novel for a senior class assignment at the University of Oklahoma, writing the rough draft in one semester and revising it in the subsequent semester.

It was published in hardcover but never went to paperback. The American Library Association honored it by putting it on their Best Books for Young Adults list in 1981, and it made the Mark Twain Award Master List, which meant I received a lot of fan mail from schoolchildren in Missouri that year. I still have those letters.
Close this window to return to the bibliography listing.