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Reading Rescue, October 2006: Halloween -- An Ancient Holiday
By Anne Allen and Mary Anne Fulmer
 Halloween
is an ancient holiday, one that can be traced back to the Druids. They
believed it was the day the lord of the dead called forth evil spirits;
the Druids lit bonfires to ward them off. The Celts thought it was the
last evening of the year and the night to foresee the future. The Romans
celebrated the harvest then and honored the goddess of fruits, Pomona.
Our jack-o-lanterns and the game of ducking for apples derive from that.
Myths, evil spirits, looking into the future: those themes bring to mind
some excellent books in the Young Adult collection.
The Summer King by O. R. Melling is part of a
series called The Chronicles of Faerie. Each book stands alone, but they
all draw on Celtic legends and an Irish setting. Laurel Blackburn has
returned to Ireland on the anniversary of her twin sister's death. After
reading her sister's journal entries, she feels she needs to explore the
mountain where Honor fell to her death. On her climb, she encounters
Honor's "roly-poly man", a fairy. The fairies pull Laurel into a
perilous mission: the freeing of the Summer King on Midsummer Eve.
Melling brings Celtic myths and legends to life, as Laurel and her
friend Ian travel around Ireland and through time on their quest,
including a rousing sea battle fought with a pirate queen. A glossary at
the back of the book translates Gaelic words and explains how to
pronounce them.
The year is 1199. In Kevin Crossley-Holland's The
Seeing Stone, young Arthur de Caldicot is growing up on an estate
near Wales when a family retainer, Merlin, gives him an unexpected gift.
Merlin is a rather mysterious figure, not willing to answer questions,
and at first the stone appears to be only a chunk of obsidian, black and
smooth. Arthur is told to keep it safe and keep it secret, which he does
in the room where he practices his writing, an uncommon skill at this
time. Eventually, he notices that the stone gets warm in his hands and
begins to show him episodes from a long-ago past, first of King Uther,
then the birth of a child, also named Arthur. As time passes, the lives
of both Arthurs seem to intertwine. Crossley-Holland devoted a lot of
time to research and paints a detailed picture of life in the twelfth
century. This is the first in a series and ends as Arthur prepares to
leave his home and become a squire in service to his father's lord,
taking the magical stone along.
In Allison Croggon's The Naming, 15 year old
Maerad, faces a future of drudgery and beatings. Sold into slavery as a
child, a chance meeting with the wandering bard Cadivan turns her life
upside down. He recognizes that she, too, is a bard (a sort of magical
minstrel) and a nerve-racking escape follows. Together, they travel
across the land of Annar, realizing that a dark force is awakening and
corrupting even the bards. Along the way, Maerad begins to come into her
powers and to remember her heritage. A chance encounter with a young boy
named Hem gives Maerad hope that more of her family survived the
destruction of Pellinor. The Naming is the first in a projected
series of four books telling the saga of Pellinor. Maerad and Cadivan
continue their journey in The Riddle, escaping Cadivan's home
city of Norloch, pursued by forces of good and evil. These books have it
all: strong characters, daring escapes, sword fights, and betrayals. We
are eagerly awaiting the publication of the next volume.
Diana Wynne Jones is a favorite of ours and it's hard to
go wrong reading any of her novels. This time, we want to call attention
to a recently released DVD, Howl's Moving Castle, based on one of
her books. Sophie Hatter had the misfortune to be born the oldest of
three sisters and in the land of Ingary that means she is destined for
failure. While working in her stepmother's hat shop, she offends the
Witch of the Waste, who turns Sophie into a 90-year old woman. Not only
that, but part of the spell is that Sophie can't tell anyone she is
cursed. She leaves home and encounters an enchanted castle moving about
the countryside. This castle is the home of the heartless wizard Howl,
who preys on young girls, and has a strange agreement with the fire
demon Calcifer, who lives in his fireplace. Christian Bale and Emily
Watson provide voices and the fantastic animation is by Hayao Miyazaki.
Howl's Moving Castle was an Academy Award nominee in 2005, for
best animated feature. Miyazaki is the creator of Spirited Away,
also available at the library. These are cartoons for adults as well as
children.
The adult fall reading program is coming to an end.
There's still time to do some reading and collect raffle tickets. The
Friends of the Library will sponsor a fall used book sale, beginning
Thursday, November 9. The sale will be held during normal library hours
and will end on Wednesday, November 15. Bring donations in any time. As
always, please send comments to
mfulmer@pennlib.org or phone the library at 724-744-4414.
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