On the book jacket

A kingdom beset by monsters...
A disease that weakens and destroys...
An epic poem and a hero of long ago...
A story of danger and desperation.

The two princesses of Bamarre couldn't be more different. Princess Addie is fearful and shy. Her deepest wish is for safety. Princess Meryl is bold and brave. Her deepest wish is to save the kingdom of Bamarre. They are sisters, and they mean the world to each other.

Then disaster strikes, and Addie--terrified and unprepared--sets out on a perilous quest. In her path are the monsters of Bamarre: ogres, specters, gryphons, and dragons. Addie must battle them, but time is running out, and the sisters' lives—and Bamarre's fate—hang in the balance.

Gail Carson Levine left her mark on fantasy with her well-loved 1998 Newbery Honor book Ella Enchanted. Now she has created another shimmering and tapestried landscape of fantasy and fairies. Bamarre and the journeys of its two princesses will burn themselves into the minds of readers, and all will relish this moving saga about two sisters groping their way toward heroism.

HarperCollins Children's Books, 2001