Materials from Europe
In a rainy town in the north of England, there are strange goings-on. Dad is building a pair of wings, eating flies, and feathering his nest. Auntie Doreen is getting cross and making dumplings. Contest barker Mr. Poop is parading the streets shouting louder and louder, and even Mr. Mint, the headmaster, is not quite himself. And watching it all is Lizzie, missing her mam and looking after Dad by letting him follow his newfound whimsy.
Helen is renowned as the most beautiful woman in the world. Her divine beauty will lead her to a lifetime of adventure–from her kidnapping at age 12, through an arranged marriage, to a passionate affair that will ultimately bring about the Trojan War. Cassandra, the sister of Helen’s true love, has the gift, or curse, to predict the future. When she foresees the ruin of her family and city, caused by Helen’s arrival in Troy, she is outraged. Yet Cassandra cannot help being drawn to Helen, and as the war rages around them, the two young women develop a deep friendship. Through their eyes, the classic tale of the Trojan War is retold in an immediate and fascinating way.
Every kid in town knows about Spud Murphy. Grown-ups think she’s the kindly old librarian, but kids know the truth. They’ve heard all about the gas-powered spud gun she keeps hidden under her desk-make so much as a sound in her library and you could get spudded with soggy potatoes. Laugh out loud and you may never be seen again . . . And now, in a major coup of parental injustice, Will and his older brother, Marty, have been ordered to spend their summer vacation in Spud’s library! Will brothers Will and Marty survive a summer marooned on the carpet of Spud’s children’s section, under the watchful eye of this terrifying librarian? Or will they discover a new interest that surprises even them?
Tom’s six older brothers are adventurers who go on dangerous quests in the Land of Stories. Tom stays home with his mother. Tom’s brothers are famous for the exciting endings they discover for the tales the Story Bureau assigns to them. Tom worries he will never have a story of his own. But when his brothers fail to return from their adventures in time to celebrate Tom’s twelfth birthday, a letter from the Story Bureau arrives … addressed to Tom. It is up to him to find out why his brothers haven’t completed their missions. Tom packs his bags and kisses his mother good-bye. It turns out that he has his own story after all.
An exuberant edition of the Lewis Carroll masterpiece, lavishly illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Alice is ready for adventure. All it takes is a bit of curiosity about the room reversed in the mirror and suddenly Alice is in the Looking-Glass world with all manner of comical and magical characters — Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the lion and the unicorn, and a whole game board of chess pieces come to life.
The Parthenon. It was ravaged by the early Christians, occupied by the Turks, and looted by the British. Wars were fought all around it. Plato and Socrates, Phidias and Pericles contemplated philosophy, art, drama, and democracy on its steps. And today its proud, ruined columns stand high above the city of Athens, Greece, the last sentinels of what’s often considered to be the most important architectural achievement in the world. The Parthenon is without rival in regard to its beauty, purity of design, and tumultuous history. It grew out of war and strife, political uprisings and financial difficulties, and remains a symbol of what humanity — at its very best — is capable of accomplishing.
Step back to an English village in 1255, where life plays out in dramatic vignettes illuminating 22 unforgettable characters. Maidens, monks and millers’ sons–in these pages, readers will meet them all. There’s Hugo, the lord’s nephew, forced to prove his manhood by hunting a wild boar; sharp-tongued Nelly, who supports her family by selling live eels; and the peasant’s daughter, Mogg, who gets a clever lesson in how to save a cow from a greedy landlord. There’s also mud-slinging Barbary (and her noble victim); Jack, the compassionate half-wit; Alice, the singing shepherdess; and many more.
Erin Law and her friends are Damaged Children. At least that is the label given to them by Maureen, the woman who runs the orphanage that they live in. Damaged, Beyond Repair because they have no parents to take care of them. But Erin knows that if they care for each other they can put up with the psychologists, the social workers, the therapists — at least most of the time. Sometimes there is nothing left but to run away, to run for freedom. And that is what Erin and two friends do, run away one night downriver on a raft. What they find on their journey is stranger than you can imagine, maybe, and you might not think it’s true. But Erin will tell you it is all true. And the proof is a girl named Heaven Eyes, who sees through all the darkness in the world to the joy that lies beneath.
Gwynna is just a girl who is forced to run when her village is attacked and burns to the ground. To her horror, she is discovered in the wood. But it is Myrddin the bard who has found her, a traveler and spinner of tales. He agrees to protect Gwynna if she will agree to be bound in service to him. Gwynna is frightened but intrigued-and says yes-for this Myrddin serves the young, rough, and powerful Arthur. In the course of their travels, Myrddin transforms Gwynna into the mysterious Lady of the Lake, a boy warrior, and a spy. It is part of a plot to transform Arthur from the leader of (con’t) (con’d from summary) a ragtag war band into King Arthur, the greatest hero of all time. If Gwynna and Myrrdin’s trickery is discovered, what will become of Gwynna? Worse, what will become of Arthur? Only the endless battling, the mighty belief of men, and the sheer cunning of one remarkable girl will tell.
The Amber Spyglass brings the intrigue of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife to a heart-stopping end, marking the final volume of His Dark Materials as the most powerful of the trilogy. Along with the return of Lyra, Will, Mrs. Coulter, Lord Asriel, Dr. Mary Malone, and Iorek Byrnison the armored bear, come a host of new characters: the Mulefa, mysterious wheeled creatures with the power to see Dust; Gallivespian Lord Roke, a hand-high spymaster to Lord Asriel; and Metatron, a fierce and mighty angel. So, too, come startling revelations: the painful price Lyra must pay to walk through the land of the dead, the haunting power of Dr. Malone’s amber spyglass, and the names of who will live–and who will die–for love. And all the while, war rages with the Kingdom of Heaven, a brutal battle that–in its shocking outcome–will uncover the secret of Dust. Philip Pullman deftly brings the cliff-hangers and mysteries of His Dark Materials to an earthshattering conclusion–and confirms his fantasy trilogy as an undoubted and enduring classic.