Greenwitch (The Dark Is Rising Sequence Series #3)

by Susan Cooper

Overview

Simon, Jane and Barney, enlisted by their mysterious great uncle, arrive in a small coastal town to help recover a priceless golden grail stolen by the forces of evil, the Dark. They are not at first aware of the strange powers of another boy brought to help, Will Stanton -- nor of the sinister significance of the Greenwitch, an image of leaves and branches that for centuries has been cast into the sea for good luck in fishing and harvest.

Their search for the grail sets into motion a series of disturbing, sometimes dangerous events that, at their climax, bring forth a gift that, for a time at least, will keep the Dark from rising.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689840340
Publisher:	Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date:	10/01/2000
Series:	Dark Is Rising Sequence Series , #3
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	102,337
Product dimensions:	5.12(w) x 7.62(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	800L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 14 Years

About the Author

Susan Cooper is the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. Her classic five-book fantasy sequence The Dark Is Rising won the Newbery Medal and a Newbery Honor. She is also the author of Victory, a Booklist Top Ten Historical Fiction for Youth book and a Washington Post Top Ten for Children novel; King of Shadows, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor book; The Boggart; Seaward; Ghost Hawk; and many other acclaimed novels for young readers and listeners. She lives in Massachusetts, and you can visit her online at TheLostLand.com.

Read an Excerpt

Simon, Jane and Barney struggled out of St. Austell station beneath a clutter of suitcases, paper bags, raincoats and paperbacks. The crowd from the London train was dwindling about them, swallowed by cars, buses, taxis.

"He did say he'd meet us here, didn't he?"

"'Course be did."

"I can't see him."

"He's a bit late, that's all."

"Great-Uncle Merry is never late."

"We ought to find out where the Trewissick bus goes from, just in case."

"No, there he is, I see him. I told you he was never late.' Barney jumped up and down, waving. Then he paused. "But he's not on his own. There's a man with him." A faint note of outrage crept into his voice. "And a boy."

A car hooted peremptorily once, twice, three times outside the Stantons' house.

"Here we go," said Uncle Bill, seizing his holdall and Will's knapsack.

Will hastily kissed his parents good-by, staggering under the enormous bag of sandwiches, thermos flasks and cold drinks that his mother dumped into his arms.

"Behave yourself," she said.

"I don't suppose Merry will get out of the car," said Bill to her as they trooped down the drive.

"Very shy character, pay no attention. But be's a good friend. You'll like him, Will."

Will said, "I'm sure I shall."

At the end of the drive, an enormous elderly Daimler stood waiting.

"Well, well," said Will's father respectfully.

"And I was worrying about space!" said Bill. "I might have known he'd drive something like this. Well, good-by, people. Here, Will, you can get in front."

In a flurry of farewells they climbed into the dignified car; a large muffler-wrapped figure sat hunched at the wheel, topped by a terrible hairy brown cap.

"Merry," said Uncle Bill asthey moved off, "this is my nephew and godson. Will Stanton, Merriman Lyon."

The driver tossed aside his dreadful cap, and a mop of white hair sprang into shaggy freedom. Shadowed dark eyes glanced sideways at Will out of an arrogant, hawk-nosed profile.

"Greetings, Old One," said a familiar voice into Will's mind.

"It's marvellous to see you," Will said silently, happily.

"Good morning, Will Stanton," Merriman said.

"How do you do, sir," said Will.

There was considerable conversation on the drive from Buckinghamshire to Comwall, particularly after the picnic lunch, when Will's uncle fell asleep and slumbered peacefully all the rest of the way.

Will said at last, "And Simon and Jane and Barney have no idea at all that the Dark timed its theft of the grail to match the making of the Greenwitch?"

"They have never heard of the Greenwitch," Merriman said. "You will have the privilege of telling them. Casually, of course."

"Hmm," Will said. He was thinking of something else. "I'd feel a lot happier if only we knew what shape the Dark will take."

"An old problem. With no solution." Merriman glanced sideways at him, with one bristly white eyebrow raised. "We have only to wait and see. And I think we shall not wait for long...."

Fairly late in the afternoon, the Daimler hummed its noble way into the forecourt of the railway station at St. Austell, in Cornwall. Standing in a small pool of luggage Will saw a boy a little older than himself, wearing a school blazer and an air of self-conscious authority; a girl about the same height, with long hair tied in a pony-tail, and a worried expression; and a small boy with a mass of blond, almost white hair, sitting placidly on a suitcase watching their approach.

"If they are to know nothing about me," he said to Merriman in the Old Ones' speech of the mind, "they will dislike me extremely, I think."

"That may very well be true," said Merriman. "But not one of us has any feelings that are of the least consequence, compared to the urgency of this quest."

Will sighed, "Watch for the Greenwitch," he said.

Copyright © 1974 by Susan Cooper

Editorial Reviews

Gr 4-7-In this third book in Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising sequence (McElderry, 1985), Simon, Jane, and Barney return to Cornwall with their Uncle Merry after learning that the grail they had found in Over Sea, Under Stone (Harcourt, 1966) has been stolen from the British Museum. Will Stanton and his American uncle come to Cornwall as well, and initially there is some tension between the children. The locals are preparing for a celebration in which the women fashion a being from sticks and leaves and toss it into the sea. Jane's kindness wins the favor of this mystical effigy and it yields its secret the manuscript that will make it possible to decipher the writing on the grail. Although the grail has been stolen by the Dark, it is found and the writing proves to be the prophetic rhyme whose words will be fulfilled in the next books. The story requires some knowledge of the previous books, and only becomes complete after reading the subsequent books. This exciting and beautifully written story is filled with magic and mystery. It is unfortunate that the man who stole the grail identifies himself as part Romany, or Gypsy, thus reinforcing a negative stereotype. Alec Jennings does a superb job of reading this tale, as he has done with the first two books in the series. His expression and pacing suit the story well, and he is at ease with Cornish names and words. There are two places where editing cuts words short: when Merry tells the children to "look it up" it sounds like "crit up," and when the thief tells Barney to "open the box" it sounds like "pen the box." These quibbles aside, the technical quality is excellent. Libraries in which this series is popular will want this recording if they are buying the others in the sequence. Otherwise, The Dark Is Rising (Aug. 1999, p. 68) and The Grey King (Oct. 2001, p. 89) are more vital purchases.-Louise L. Sherman, formerly Anna C. Scott School Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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