No.Not the Palace.Anywhere but the Palace.12-year-old Alexander Buchan was once content, training as a falconer at Strathbogie Castle in Huntly. But when his Earl sends him to Edinburgh to the court of the newly arrived Mary, Queen of Scots, the boy finds himself lured into a world of intrigue, terror and treachery. Alexander knows right from wrong, but how can he hope to outwit his master's murderous messenger'? Surely no one can defy an Earl – especially one whose wife is rumoured to be a witch!Soon, more than the boy’s own life is at stake: his friend Lizzie is arrested and the angry clouds of Reformation Scotland gather around the young Queen.It seems that Alexander must spy – or die.
Barbara Henderson Book order






- 2024
- 2023
Based on real people and events, Rivet Boy blends fact and fiction to tell the story of one boy's role in the building of the iconic Forth Bridge-Scotland's greatest man-made wonder-in 1889.
- 2022
William James
- 136 pages
- 5 hours of reading
- 2022
There it is again, hope. The defeat and the despair I can stand, but it’s the hope that kills me, as if the Cause wasn’t lost, as if Father hadn’t died in vain. As if any one of us could possibly come out of this alive…Following the death of his father, 13-year-old Archie MacDonald has lost faith in the Jacobite Cause. Having witnessed their clan’s terrible defeat at the Battle of Culloden, Archie and his feisty cousin Meg flee back to Lochaber to lie low.Or so they think.Until the fugitive Prince’s life depends on them.When Prince Charles Edward Stuart looks to the people of Borrodale for help, will the young stable boy support the rebellion that has cost him so dearly?With enemies closing in, the Prince’s fate now rests in the hands of a stable boy and a maid with a white cockade.Who will survive this deadly game of hide-and-seek?Praise for The Reluctant Rebel'I loved it! It's a rip-roaring adventure. Meg and Archie are great characters.' – Maggie Craig
- 2021
12-year-old Kylan is a Viking slave; when he gets the chance to return to the Hebrides, the Lewis Chessmen he helped carve become his only hope of escape and survival.
- 2021
Scottish By Inclination
- 200 pages
- 7 hours of reading
"Barbara Henderson has been Scottish by inclination for 30 years. She fell in love with Scotland and its people when she left Germany at the age of 19. Now a children's author, storyteller and teacher in the Highlands, she gives us a lively glimpse of Scotland through the eyes of an EU immigrant - from her first ceilidh to Brexit and the choppy seas of citizenship. Scottish by Inclination also celebrates the varied contributions of 30 remarkable Europeans - beer brewers, entrepreneurs, academics, artists and activists - who have chosen to call Scotland home"--Amazon.com
- 2020
The Siege of Caerlaverock
- 176 pages
- 7 hours of reading
A tale of adventure and bravery, based on the real-life castle siege in the summer of the year 1300. Knights and nobles, pages and prisoners - and a girl of conscience with plenty of courage as the catapults release their rocks into the sky.
- 2019
Dumfries, 1792. Henry may only be twelve, but he has already begun his training in the Excise, combating smuggling like his father does. But when a large smuggling schooner is stranded nearby, the stakes are high - even with reinforcements, and the newly recruited officer, a poet called Robert Burns.
- 2018
Wilderness Wars
- 220 pages
- 8 hours of reading
Set against the backdrop of a remote Scottish island, two characters, Em and Zac, confront the fierce forces of nature in an intense eco-thriller. Their struggle highlights the themes of survival and resilience as they navigate the challenges posed by the environment, testing their limits and their relationship. The story immerses readers in a gripping narrative that combines adventure with ecological awareness.
- 2017
Wrong place. Wrong time. A boy on the run.THE MARKET'S ON FIRE. FIRE! FIRE! THE BOY DID IT! Smoke belches out through the market entrance. And me? I turn and run. Inverness 1889. When 12-year-old Phin is accused of a terrible crime, his only option is to flee. In the unlikely company of an escaped prisoner and a group of travelling entertainers, he enters a new world of Punch and Judy shows and dancing bears.But will Phin clear his name?And what can he do when memories of a darker, more terrible crime begin to haunt him?