26. Greenwitch by Susan Cooper (Children’s Fantasy) 147 p.

A fitting sequel to The Dark Is Rising. The three Drew children from Over Sea, Under Stone (which I have yet to read, but Imani was right, I didn’t need to) once again join their great-uncle, Merriman Lyon, on a vacation in Cornwall. The grail they recovered in the first book has been stolen from the museum, and Merriman believes they have a part to play in getting it back. Someone else joins them for the holiday: Will Stanton, who the other children resent for pushing into their holiday.

I quite liked seeing Will from the Drews point of view. He’s quite convincingly written as a young boy with an agelessness that sometimes makes him seem much older than his years. I also like Merriman much more now that I’ve seen him with his family, rather than just with Will, who is his peer rather than a child in his care.

The Greenwitch was an interesting creation, and I found the description of it rather intriguing. Once again, I found the lack of agency on the part of the characters a little frustrating, but what could have been major complaint is totally overshadowed by Susan Cooper’s excellent writing. The tone of the books is interesting, with the high-minded, epic language of Tolkien, but with the morals and attitudes of a certain kind of old-fashioned British children’s book; it’s Lord of the Rings meets The Adventurous Four.

Pages read: 7,675

Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, 888 Challenge, Susan Cooper, The Dark Is Rising