Acorna : The Unicorn Girl (Acorna Ser.)

New York, NY, U.S.A.: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998. Mass Market Paperback. Near Fine. First Edition. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. She was just a little girl. With a tiny horn in the center of her forehead, funny-looking feet, beautiful silver hair, and several curious powers: the ability to purify air and water, make plants grow, and heal scars and broken bones. A trio of grizzled prospectors found her drifting in an escape pod amid the asteroids, adopted her, and took her home to sizzling controversy. Officious bureaucrats wanted to put Acorna in a home and cut off her "deformity." Ambitious scientists wanted to isolate and study the "unicorn girl." Which was worse? Acorna's rough-and-ready "uncles" weren't about to hang around long enough to find out. They took their foundling back at knife point, airlocked out, and ran with her - all the way to the bandit planet Kezdet, where no questions are asked, and a girl might grow up free. But Kezdet has its own dark secret. The prosperity of the planet is based on an unseen horror - armies of pale, silent children toiling in the factories and mines; unnamed, unseen, and unloved. A hideous trade in child slave labor, administered by the mystery man known as "The Piper." The Piper has special plans for Acorna, whose shining horn promises wealth and power. But free little girls have a way of growing into freedom-loving young women. And Lukia, Lady of Light, is about to teach the Piper and his minions a much-needed lesson about honor, liberty - and the precious value of childhood. 409 pages. Some light rubbing on top & bottom & edges of spine and some places on outside edges. Spine is creased. Some indentations on rear cover. 1/2" crease on front cover across the bottom right corner..