Before there was Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, there was Will
Stanton. Those with a love for children’s literature will recognize him as the
unlikely hero from Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising sequence. The series includes Over Sea, Under Stone;
The Dark Is Rising
(Newbery Honor Winner;) Greenwitch; The Grey King
(Newbery Award Winner;) and Silver on the Tree. This
is children’s classic fantasy at its best. Think Chronicles of Narnia and The
Hobbit. As an indication of how well we know this series and how often we
recommend it, I will give you a word of
advice. We often direct the child to start with the second book of the series
where there is more action and magic. The first book takes a voracious or determined
reader to stick with it. The series is an excellent choice for fantasy lovers, grades 4 through 8 and it is not as thick as a typical Rowling or
Riordan tome.
From the same author, we have this 1995 Caudill Nominee, The
Boggart. If Dark is Rising is epic, The Boggart is summer reading pleasure. But
it also comes with two pieces of advice. Many children are fully aware of what
to expect from a Harry Potter boggart. A Harry Potter boggart “is a
shape-shifter that takes on the form of its intended victim's worst fear. It
generally likes to hide in dark, enclosed places, such as in closets, under
beds, or in hollow trees.” (Webster’s Online Dictionary) To combat this boggart one must cast a spell upon it while
thinking of something riotously funny. In contrast, Cooper’s Scottish boggart
is “a very ancient, mischievous thing, solitary and sly, born of a magic as old
as the rocks and the waves.” The boggart delights in playing tricks upon those with which it keeps residence. The boggart loves those who enjoy and even
welcome his escapades. Big difference.
Here is the second piece of advice. This book was published in
1993. Twenty years ago, technology was amazingly, vastly different. One of the
book’s main characters, nine-year-old Jessup, is a young computer genius who has his very own computer
club that is designing its very own computer game called Black Hole. As you can
imagine, that significantly dates the book. Eight inch floppy drives are used
and even I have never had one of those! Huge, heavy blocks of plastic and glass
form the black and white monitors. But the book is delightful! I almost wish
the author could update that portion of the novel. Technology plays a huge
role.
That said… The boggart lives in Castle Keep on a small island in a
small lake in Scotland. He shares his residence with the current MacDevon, an
elderly man, and his beloved dog Fergus, equally elderly. The boggart loves the
MacDevon and when he dies the boggart keeps the locals restless with his
mourning and keening wails before he chooses to sleep a long sleep in his crack
in the library walls. But his rest is interrupted.
The Castle is inherited by the MacDevon’s only surviving relative –
one Robert Volnik of Toronto, Canada. Robert, his wife, and two children travel to Scotland to visit the estate and
realize very quickly that no matter how much they have fallen in love with it,
there is no way they can maintain it from the other side of the ocean. They make
arrangements to sell it, but both children are allowed to pick one piece of
furniture to bring home. Unfortunately, the boggart is hiding and subsequently
locked within the roll top desk that Emily chooses to bring home.
The boggart begins to wreak his usual havoc of throwing chairs,
levitating glasses, toying with pets and stealing lunches. Both Emily and
Jessup are convicted as the perpetrators of said havoc, first by each other and
later by their parents as the mischief escalates. The boggart is enchanted with
the new technologies available to him in the Americas. He plays with the light
board at the theater run by Robert. He plays with the stop lights at a busy
intersection. And eventually he finds his way into Jessup’s computer.
By this time, Emily and Jessup have discovered that the other sibling isn’t playing pranks. One of their father’s actors happens to be
Scotch. He hears the tales that the children are telling and realizes that they
have a boggart on their hands. But by then, it is almost too
late. Emily is in a horrible accident. The kids are practically grounded. A
local psychologist believes that Emily is haunted by a poltergeist. And the
local media is closing in – the part of this book that is completely in sync
with current pop culture.
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