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Susan Cooper

1935-
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Susan Cooper
is a Newbery Award winner.








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The Dark is Rising — (1965-1977) Ages 9-12. Publisher: On holiday in Cornwall, the three Drew children discover an ancient map in the attic of the house that they are staying in. They know immediately that it is special. It is even more than that — the key to finding a grail, a source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark. And in searching for it themselves, the Drews put their very lives in peril.

book review Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising Over Sea Under Stonebook review Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising Over Sea Under StoneSusan Cooper The Dark is Rising, Over Sea Under Stone, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the TreeSusan Cooper The Dark is Rising, Over Sea Under Stone, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the TreeSusan Cooper The Dark is Rising, Over Sea Under Stone, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the Tree
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book review Susan Cooper The Dark is RisingThe Dark is Rising: "Theirs is a Cold Strength, the Winter Feeds It..."

book review Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising Over Sea Under StoneDespite multiple awards and a talent that is up there with the best of the fantasy authors, Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series is often overlooked by readers in general. A five-part series, it deals with the battle between good and evil as waged by the Old Ones, several contemporary children, a range of mystical objects, and figures from history and legend. It sounds like pretty generic stuff, but Cooper’s gift lies in the telling of the story, and manages to take these well-trod aspects of the fantasy genre and turn them into something truly memorable.

Like Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles (the best series with which these can be compared) it is the second book that is the most famous, and in this case it shares its title with the name of the overall series. The Dark is Rising is the story of eleven-year-old Will, who discovers his heritage as the youngest of the Old Ones: guardians of the world who fight against the malevolent Dark for the well being of mankind. With his mentor Merriman, Will travels through the mighty Doors of Time to learn his craft and skills, and then go up against the Black Rider — the strongest disciple of the Dark.

All of this takes place from Midwinter's Eve to the Twelfth Night after Christmas, as the two separate powers' strength waxes and wanes. Will's role as the Sign-Seeker means that he must discover the location of six magical stones representing different elements, and bring them all together to create the circle. As he searches his small village, the Dark releases its weapons against him: vicious rooks, an innocent-looking farm girl, a traitor, and finally a terrible snowfall that threatens the lives of Will's family, and the rest of the village. And through all of this is the mysterious figure of a tramp that sulks in the snow, fearing and hating Will, and yet with a terrible sadness to him that Will cannot understand.

Will himself is not without strength and allies, and he faces adversary with the amazing personality that Cooper has shaped for him: the soul of an ancient inside the body and feelings of a small boy. He is perhaps one of the most fascinating, three-dimensional characters of children's fantasy literature, and has to be fully read to be appreciated.

Cooper infuses her work with threads of real folklore and legend, everything from the old Celtic gods to the “specialness” of a seventh son. Likewise, her language is simply stunning — she literally takes us from a fascinating description of a twig, to an invocation of a range of planets and stars overhead. She also has a gift for creating emotion, especially fear — Will's experiences with the forces of the Dark and the penetration of the snow are wonderfully, chillingly created.

The previous story in this series was Over Sea, Under Stone, which featured three completely different children (who meet Will in the next book Greenwitch) in a setting that had much less emphasis on magical workings. In fact, when I first began reading this story I was initially rather confused and thought I'd picked up the wrong book. It does get off to a rather shaky start, with Will entering different worlds and times without the reader really knowing where he is, or how, or why. However, one must really read all of the books in order to gain the full picture of what's going on, as there are foreshadowing images here that do not come to fruition till the final book. It pays to read this more than once — it's one of those books that yields more information and detail each time.

Will's family come across as clones of one another (there are slight differences, but not enough for me to be able to keep track of all the different siblings) but as a whole they are a cheerful, bickering, loving family: something indeed worth fighting the forces of Darkness for. Merriman Lyon, who is only character to appear in all five books, is as aloof, mysterious and grave as ever, and deserves a place among the great wizards of fantasy.

If you consider yourself a fantasy fan, then The Dark is Rising is must-read material. Beautifully crafted and endlessly fascinating, you should buy, not borrow this series. —Rebecca Fisher


book review Greenwitch Susan Cooper The Dark is RisingGreenwitch: "Trewissick is Under Possession This Night..."

Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising, Over Sea Under Stone, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the TreeGreenwitch is the third book in The Dark is Rising series, and it is necessary to be familiar with the first two books Over Sea, Under Stone and The Dark is Rising to fully understand what is going on in this volume. In the first book siblings Simon, Jane, and Barney uncovered the grail from its hiding place, but unfortunately lost the lead-incased manuscript that would decipher the inscription on the grail's side. Now after the grail has been stolen from the museum, their great-uncle Merry brings them once more to Trewissick in order to find what they once lost.

Meeting them for the first time is Will Stanton, the youngest of the Old Ones, the beings of the Light that guard mankind against the Dark. He came into his own in The Dark is Rising, finding the Six Signs, and now is joining the Drew children to search for the grail. An ancient soul in the body of a small boy, the Drews are initially none to pleased to find competition for their uncle's time and energy, but the search for the grail and the manuscript soon puts this out of their mind.

Jane attends a women-only all-night festival that involves the making of something called "the Greenwitch", made of rock and branches. Tentatively she makes a wish for the vastly powerful and lonely being — a wish that could do what neither the Light nor the Dark can accomplish. But with the presence of a malevolent painter that has Barney in his power, the anger of the Greenwitch and the return of a ghostly traitor from Trewissick's past, it is a challenge to reach the finish line and the next step in the ongoing quest.

Greenwitch is the shortest book in the series, and most swift readers will probably finish it in one sitting (or at least one day), and although it is a carefully crafted read, it could have used a bit of padding, especially in the relationship between Will and the Drew children. It is prickly at first, and then mellows out at the end, but does not really record the transition between these two states. However, as always the story is packed with original ideas and her language is beautiful, especially the nightmare sequence when the Wild Magic of the Greenwitch is unleashed on the town.

An essential part of the collection, Greenwitch is a great inclusion, wrapping up plot points from the previous two books and setting the stage for the next two. In many ways, this is Jane's story, making the book unique considering she is the only female of note in the entire series — though she's hardly a strong, independent female of the 21st century, her simple wish is really quite touching and harks back to the days when females didn't have to swing a sword or do kick-boxing in order to make a real difference. —Rebecca Fisher


book review Susan Cooper The Grey King The Dark is RisingThe Grey King: "He's a Lonely Boy, and Had a Strange Life..."

Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising, Over Sea Under Stone, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the TreeAlthough it is not my personal favourite, The Grey King, the fourth book in The Dark is Rising sequence is generally considered the best in the series, and is the winner of the Newbery Medal. Following on from the other books, Will Stanton (an Old One of the Light, who protects humanity from the forces of the Dark) travels to Wales, in order to fetch the golden harp, which in turn will wake the mysterious Sleepers, fulfilling the next part of the prophesy chronicling the battle between Light and Dark.

But the circumstances surrounding his visit are grim: after a serious illness he has been sent to relatives in order to convalesce, and soon finds that he cannot remember the vital phrases of the prophesy. Though he can only remember bits and pieces, he is aware that he is meant to seek help from "the raven boy" and "silver eyes that see the wind" — whatever that means. Amongst his cheery relatives things are well, but in the hidden farmlands he soon meets a young albino boy named Bran and his silver-eyed dog Cafall. Bran's mother disappeared when he was just a baby, leaving him in the care of Owen Davis, a devout and religious man who is kind, but strict with the lonely Bran. Though he is obviously unusual, only Will can see that there is something so much more to Bran than meets the eye.

He also meets John Rowlands, an aged and immensely wise farmer who is one of the few human beings who could possibly understand Will's task, and Caradog Pritchard, a hideously bad-tempered man who is out to make things difficult for everyone around him. But beyond all of this is the malevolence of one of the greatest powers of the Dark: the Grey King and his vicious grey foxes who are out to prevent the Light from gaining their advantage with the golden harp.

Merriman Lyon, the linking factor in all five books has only a minor role here, and the Drew children are not present at all — this is solely Will's quest that he must fulfil by himself, with Bran as the last major player in the series to be introduced. By its end we are all set to head into the final book Silver on the Tree.

It will help if you know basic Arthurian lore (in particular the love-triangle), since Cooper is subtle in her meanings, and never spells it out entirely. Bran's mother's situation will only resonant if you are fully aware of who she is revealed to be and what she once did. And of course, it is necessary to have read the previous books in the series in order to grasp the full meaning of what's going on here.

A criticism leveled toward these books at one stage, were that they were too black-and-white: there was a Light side and a Dark side, the goodies and the baddies and that was all there was to it. But here for the first time, Cooper adds little touches of grey to the matter, or at least makes you look at the opposites in a different way. It is Rowlands who points out that the Light can be just as merciless and unforgiving as the Dark, that "at the center of the Light is a cold, white flame, just as at the center of the Dark there is a great black pit." The Light can often be merciless and cruel, manipulating things to reach its own ends — and Rowlands claims he would choose one human life over their cold principles. As well as this there is a sense of powers beyond good and evil, a "High Magic" that governs over both of them and refuses to take sides.

As well as this the book deals with darker and more human issues than previously, such as violence, adultery, piety, betrayal, loss, temper, attempted rape (though portrayed extremely carefully), and the capacity for humanity to destroy itself. Cooper's language is beautiful, her research thorough, her themes profound and her meanings deep and thoughtful. There is so much hidden depth (sometimes held within a single sentence that is easy to miss) that it's impossible to list them all, but here's one — Will assumes that it was the Dark's powers that made him so terribly ill. But toward the end he begins to think it may have come from a completely different source...

Do yourself a favor and read these books! —Rebecca Fisher


book review Susan Cooper The Grey King The Dark is RisingSilver on the Tree

Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising, Over Sea Under Stone, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the TreeSilver on the Tree is the fifth and final book in The Dark is Rising series, and if you have never picked up the previous installments, then don't start here — you won't have a clue what's going on. If, however, you have read Over Sea, Under Stone, The Dark is Rising, Greenwitch and The Grey King, then here is the big finale you've been waiting for. Finally, all our main characters are reunited for the first and last time — Merriman Lyon, Will Stanton, Bran Davis, the Drew children, the Rowlands and the rest of the Old Ones who have come together for the final battle against the malevolent powers of the Dark.

They have gathered in Wales, following the last lines of the Light's prophecy, "when the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back," in order to find the last talisman of the Light. Whilst Will (the youngest of the Old Ones: guardians of humanity) and Bran (the son of King Arthur who was transported forward in time by his mother) travel across the Lost Land in search of the crystal sword, Merriman and Simon, Jane and Barney Drew face their own challenges when the powers of the Dark catapult them into different time periods. Soon it is a race to the finish line and the Midsummer Tree, but with a traitor in their midst and the forces of the Dark towering around them, it's hardly going to be easy to finally defeat the Dark.

Cooper again introduces several historical and legendary figures from England's past, including Owain Glyndwr, Herne the Hunter, Gwion/Talisan and of course King Arthur himself, and she invokes the landscapes and countryside beautifully. By the end of the series, we are met with the inevitable sadness of farewells and life-changing decisions that place The Dark is Rising amongst the best of children's fantasy literature — this is not simply a hackneyed battle between opposing forces; it involves real betrayal, real heartbreak and real pain — where the climactic moment is not a sword-fight, but a decision that must be made by a human being that has just lost everything he's loved. Our characters have only half won the battle, for as she points out in the beginning of the novel when a young Pakistani boy is targeted for bullying, the real enemy lies within humankind.

There are a few things that I'm not quite sure on, but before I start pointing them out I have to say that Susan Cooper is an extremely sensitive and subtle writer — if you don't read carefully you can miss half of what she has to say. As I have only read Silver on the Tree twice (once when I was quite young, and once when I was in a hurry), I'm quite certain that I fall into this category. Her themes are deep, her writing is articulate, and she doesn't make it easy for insensitive readers. If you want to get the most out of these books, then you have to work for it.

In saying that, some things come across as rather puzzling. The sequence and timing of events is rather patchy, and often things happen that don't seem to make much sense (although keep in mind, I may be misinterpreting them — I'm sure Cooper knows more about writing than I do). The book is divided into four parts, and although the first provides a promising beginning, and the last an exciting conclusion, the two middle parts are problematic. The situation with the Drews, in which they are transported back in time seems a little unnecessary — they do not seem to learn or gain anything of value that justifies their presence there. Meanwhile, as Bran and Will traverse the Lost Land, they come up against several obstacles that are disposed of rather easily — such as the terrifying specter of a moving horse skeleton: the boys are saved when the petals of a may tree falls upon it. Huh?

Furthermore, the powers of the Dark just didn't seem that scary this time around. Previously, they were one of Cooper's strongest inventions, whether they appeared as amiable siblings, sullen, half-crazed painters, sweet-faced farm-girls, haggard tramps, a malevolent mountain-presence or the terrifying visage of a Black-cloaked Rider. But here, rather than appearing as a truly foreboding threat, the bad-guys do little but tail our heroes, mock them, and generally come across as annoying. Cooper drives home the point that the Dark can do the good guys no physical harm so many times that we lose all fear for their safety. I had no doubts that they'd make it through with no causalities — but the emotional scarring that they've been exposed to is also negated when all but one of the main characters lose the memory of their adventures.

As mentioned, Cooper's work is immensely subtle and there is too much to be discovered for me to give it all away. I'll reveal just one: read the descriptions of the Old Ones in the ships carefully at the story's end – she does not give names but "a tall burly figure in a smith's apron, a small man in a green coat and an imperious grey-haired lady, leaning on a stick," are all characters that we've seen before. So read carefully and frequently if you want to get the most out of this particular book, as well of the rest of the installments in this award-winning, immensely rewarding series. —Rebecca Fisher

 

The Boggart — (1993, 1997) Ages 9-12. Publisher: After visiting the castle in Scotland which her family has inherited and returning home to Canada, twelve-year-old Emily finds that she has accidentally brought back with her a boggart, an invisible and mischievous spirit with a fondness for practical jokes.

Susan Cooper fantasy book reviews 1. The Boggart 2. The Boggart and the Monster Susan Cooper fantasy book reviews 1. The Boggart 2. The Boggart and the Monster

Susan Cooper fantasy book reviews 1. The BoggartThe Boggart

Susan Cooper fantasy book reviews 1. The Boggart 2. The Boggart and the MonsterSusan Cooper
is best known for her five-part The Dark is Rising series, a sequence of fantasy novels that any self-respecting lover of fantasy should have on their bookshelf. Among her lesser known works is the time-slip adventure King of Shadows, a picture book trilogy based on Celtic legends, and two stories chronicling the doings of a Scottish boggart: The Boggart and its sequel The Boggart and the Monster.

In the Western Highlands of Scotland lives a mysterious and mischievous spirit known as a boggart. Living at the ancient Castle Keep (but often moving about the countryside), the creature of Wild Magic delights in the confusion and amusement that its daily tricks create. But when the elderly Duncan MacDevon dies in his sleep, the inheritance of the castle falls to his great-nephew Robert Volnik and his family living in Toronto, Canada.

The Volnik children are twelve-year old Emily and nine-year old computer-genius Jessup, who are surprised and delighted at the prospect at a holiday in Scotland. Their visit involves meeting Tommy Cameron (who secretly knows all about the boggart), seal watching, sightseeing and rationalizing the strange occurrences at the Keep. As the holiday draws to a close, each sibling is promised one bit of furniture each before the castle is sold: and Emily chooses a beautiful old writing desk. Unbeknownst to all, it is here that the boggart has curled itself up to slumber, and ends up traveling with them to Toronto.

The collision of the modern world and Wild Magic brings exactly what you'd expect: havoc. Exploring the technological wonders of this new world whilst keeping to its mandate of mischief making, the boggart eventually causes some rather dangerous mischief. The Volnik family don't know what to make of the surge in bad luck and strange phenomena, but eventually the children stumble to the idea of a boggart thanks to the wisdom of their father's theatre crew. Now their only concern is how to return the homesick boggart back to his rightful home: magic has long since seeped from the world, so perhaps a technological solution can be found...

The Boggart is a beautifully written, thoughtful and interesting book, taking a unique premise and exploring it in both a contemporary and more old-fashioned setting. Cooper is wonderful at describing countryside, circumstances and human reactions to both the mundane and the supernatural. Poignancy is also her specialty; witness a scene in which a grieving boggart affects the sleep of the entire community, who experience the shared dream of an ancient funeral. It's both eerie and poetic.

However, Cooper is on less firmer ground when she reaches Toronto. Although the boggart reacts to the change in scenery amusingly, and the chaos that it creates carries a somewhat darker edge to it, she also introduces several characters and situations that are not dealt with in a particular satisfactory manner: such as Jessup's groups of friends who (with the exception of Barry) have no real place in the story, and the character of Doctor Stigmore. He witnesses some of the boggart's behavior and believes that it is Emily's doing through telekinesis; he begins to harass the family and notifies a television show, but both of these plot threads are left hanging, with no resolution at all as to what happens.

One thing I did appreciate was how this story fits in nicely with The Dark is Rising sequence, where Cooper goes into more detail on the nature of Wild Magic. Although there is no mention of Old Ones or any other components of that series, The Boggart does fit into the literary world that she created there. The kids are interesting and realistic, the parents sympathetic and delightfully eccentric, and the Boggart is a character that shines throughout the book; a true creature of wild and untamed magic.

Long before J.K. Rowling gave us the spooky Boggarts that inhabit dark places and take the form of your darkest fears, Susan Cooper brought us this spritely, loveable, intriguing figure of Scottish legend. Look out for its sequel The Boggart and the Monster. —Rebecca Fisher

Stand-alone novels:

Susan Cooper Victory, The Magician's Boy, Green Boy, King of Shadows, Tam Lin, SeawardSeaward — (1983) Ages 9-12. Publisher: His name is West. Her name is Cally. They speak different languages and come from different countries thousands of miles apart, but they do not know that. What they do know are the tragedies that took their parents, then wrenched the two of them out of reality, into a strange and perilous world through which they must travel together, knowing only that they must reach the sea. Together West and Cally embark upon a strange and sometimes terrifying quest, learning to survive and to love and, at last, the real secret of their journey.


Tam Lin — (1991) Ages 4-8. Publisher: Margaret, daughter of the king of Scotland, longs for adventure. Tired of setting a good example for all the other young girls — and of waiting to be married — Margaret flings down her embroidery one day and runs out of the castle, over the fields to Carterhays, a wood that is supposedly haunted by Tam Lin, an Elfin knight. There, indeed, she meets Tam Lin, who is remarkably handsome. When she learns his story — that he is human, not Elfin at all, and was stolen as a baby by the Elfin Queen — she determines to help break the enchantment that holds him. Courageous and steadfast throughout one fearful night, Margaret defeats each dangerous and dramatic attempt by the Elfin Queen Susan Cooper Tam Lin children's fantasy picture book reviewto keep Tam Lin. And when the morning sun rises, Margaret and Tam Lin ride together across the green fields of Scotland, back to the castle.


Susan Cooper Tam Lin children's fantasy picture book reviewTam Lin: Deftly retold for kids

Anyone who is familiar with the ballad Tam Lin knows it's a story that is very much for grown-ups, or at least teenagers. Susan Cooper does a very good job here of adapting the old story so that it's suitable for any age. It requires changing a few plot elements, but the essential spirit of the story remains the same.

Margaret is tired of sewing and acting polite and talking about future husbands with the other girls at her father's castle, so she runs away to the woods of Carterhays to pick flowers. She has been expressly forbidden to go there, of course. There, she meets the handsome Tam Lin, and after arguing for a minute over who really owns the forest, they spend a pleasant afternoon talking and becoming friends in the woods. When Margaret gets back home, she's in big trouble — she has actually been gone a week! Her unlikely friendship with Tam Lin leads her to sneak out once again, to rescue him from the faeries during one of their processions. She has to hold on to him as he turns into all sorts of scary animals — and, well, you know the rest. Cooper wonderfully depicts the feisty Margaret, and successfully adapts the story into something perfect for a little girl's shelf of fairy tale books.

I subtracted a star because I don't think the art really captures the magic of the story; it's too "cute" and too simple. But maybe I'm just spoiled by Kinuko Craft's cover for McKillip's Winter Rose. It just seems like the land of Faery requires absolutely lush artwork. —Kelly Lasiter


King of Shadows — (1999) Ages 9-12. Publisher: Nat Field is a young actor who has travelled from America to rehearse and perform as Puck in a "Midsummer Night's Dream", at the new Globe Theatre in London. As rehearsals intensify, Nat's health begins to fail and soon the rest of the cast are horrified to hear that he's been rushed into hospital with Bubonic Plague! Something strange happens, and as Nat'sfriends worry about him, he is experiencing an amazing adventure with the King of Susan Cooper Victory, The Magician's Boy, Green Boy, King of Shadows, Tam Lin, SeawardShadows, William Shakespeare himself, and performing in the original Globe Theatre.


children's fantasy book reviews Susan Cooper King of ShadowsKing of Shadows

Nat Fields is a young boy with a tragic family history who has just joined a new theatre group. Run by the eccentric Arby Babbage, Nat finds solace and escape from his past with the rehearsals of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Nat is to play the part of Puck, and despite some minor difficulties, Nat is happy with his role as an actor, especially as the director plans to make the performance as loyal as possible to the original performances (including having boys play the part of women).

But then, after a terrible illness, Nat awakes to find himself in the past. He is in 1599, acting amongst Shakespeare's theatre troupe at the Globe Theatre. Once more Nat is in the role of Puck, but this time the performance is for the secret benefit of Queen Elizabeth herself. Nat's co-star is none other than Will Shakespeare himself, who brings a sense of calm and healing to Nat's painful past and his present condition.

Dealing with his terrifying new surroundings, Nat looks to the theatre to help him cope with bullies, political intrigue, cultural differences and the sometimes brutal nature of England in another century. But haunting him throughout is the question: why is he here? And is he ever going to return to his contemporary world?

Susan Cooper is the award-winning fantasy author of The Dark is Rising sequence, which remains her best work. Though King of Shadows is a pleasant read, it doesn't really stand out as an essential inclusion of the time-slip or fantasy genre. The presentation of the Elizabethan era is done very well, and I couldn't spot any inconsistencies or historical faults (not that I'm an expert on the subject). Furthermore, Cooper uses real historical characters and situations in both the past and present, predominately the real figure of Nat Field of 1599 and the reconstruction of the Globe Theatre by Sam Wanamaker in 1999. And of course Queen Elizabeth and William Shakespeare, who are vividly brought to vivid, realistic life. All this combines to make King of Shadows a learning experience as well as an enjoyable read. Young readers will also come away with a clear sense of the plot and humor of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

An interesting premise, a clever twist and a bittersweet ending, King of Shadows is well worth the read.
Rebecca Fisher


Susan Cooper Victory, The Magician's Boy, Green Boy, King of Shadows, Tam Lin, SeawardGreen Boy — (2002) Ages 9-12. Publisher: On their idyllic Bahamian island, Trey's little brother, Lou, is different — he doesn't speak and he suffers frightening seizures. But when he and Trey find themselves mysteriously transported to Pangaia, an alternative universe where pollution and over-development have all but destroyed nature, a militant underground environmental group greets him as the prophesied hero who will save their world. But to realize this prophecy, Lou must take Trey on a terrifying and dangerous mission, with much more at stake than the fate of Pangaia. Does Lou have the power to save their own island home from a future as bleak as the world they've seen in Pangaia?


Susan Cooper Victory, The Magician's Boy, Green Boy, King of Shadows, Tam Lin, SeawardThe Magician's Boy — (2005) Ages 9-12. Publisher: The Boy polishes the Magician's wands, and catches the rabbits that the Magician pulls out of hats. But the Boy's favorite job is operating the puppets for the Magician's famous puppet play, "Saint George and the Dragon" — until one terrible day when, in the middle of a performance, the Boy can't find the Saint George puppet. The Magician is furious. He points a long magical finger at the Boy, and — poof! — the Boy is suddenly in the strange Land of Story, where he must find Saint George. The Boy's hunt for Saint George is full of adventures with oddly familiar people. He saves the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe from losing her children; he spoils the wolf's plan to eat Little Red Riding Hood; and he narrowly escapes being eaten by the Giant at the top of Jack's beanstalk. But the Boy's last adventure is the most amazing of all — and changes his life forever. No child who reads this delightful tale by master storyteller Susan Cooper is likely to forget it.


Susan Cooper Victory, The Magician's Boy, Green Boy, King of Shadows, Tam Lin, SeawardVictory — (2006) Ages 9-12. Publisher: Two Children, Two Struggles, One Battle... One child is Sam Robbins, a powder monkey aboard HMS Victory, the ship in which Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson will die a hero's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The other is Molly Jennings, an English girl transplanted from London to the United States in 2006, fighting a battle of her own against loss and loneliness. This extraordinary time-shifting adventure tells the interwoven stories of Sam and Molly, linked by a mystery. Sam is a farm boy, kidnapped at eleven years old by the "press gang" to serve in the Royal Navy. At first terrified and seasick, Sam is transformed gradually into a sailor. In the rowdy, dangerous world of a hundred-gun warship enduring the Napoleonic Wars, he meets both cruelty and kindness, and survives a fearsome battle whose echoes reach through the years to involve Molly as well. Like Sam, Molly has lost her childhood but will find her future, with help from a very unexpected source. Separate yet together, Sam Robbins and Molly Jennings struggle through fear and excitement to a final ordeal that terrifyingly tests their courage. And the moving climax of the book shows two lives joined forever by the touch of Nelson, one of the greatest sailors of all time.

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