The Grey King (1976)

The Grey King is the fourth in author Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising Sequence.  As such, I was worried that I would have no idea what was going on. (Kind of like The High King several books ago.)  I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to read the previous three to understand.  Although I have gone back and read the whole series now.

Will Stanton has been sick and is sent to relatives in Wales to recuperate.  Strange things begin to happen and memories resurface until he fully remembers his true identity and purpose.  He is an Old One, a special soul who is born to fight the Dark.  He must free the Grey King to help forward the cause of the Light, as the forces of the Dark conspire to stop him. 

Arthurian and Welsh legends are updated to fit Cooper's story.  One of the characters, Bran, befriends Will and their destinies are intertwined as we find out that Bran is actually Arthur's son, brought forward through time to keep him safe.  Speaking of time, there is some time slipping in this book.  (The whole series actually. It isn't so bad in this book, but in book 2, The Dark Is Rising, and book 5, Silver on the Tree, it gets quite weird and confusing at times.)

One part of the book I really liked was a pronunciation guide to Welsh.  Bran teaches Will how to say Welsh words properly.  I have always wondered how to pronounce Welsh as it looks so crazy.  So now I know.  :)

I liked this book fine, it is totally appropriate for the older elementary school audience.  I will say that I enjoyed book 1, Over Sea, Under Stone, and book 3, Greenwitch, better. They include 3 siblings who work with their "Uncle" Merry (Merlin), to help stop the Dark.  They are not Old Ones, but Merry gives some great explanations of the Dark, or what we would call Evil, and how it creeps into the hearts of men and what we can do to curb it and turn it away.

Cooper, Susan. The Grey King. Simon and Schuster, 1975.

M.C. Higgins, the Great (1975)

 

 

 

(I read this one a couple of months ago, so it isn't fresh in my mind.)

 

M.C. Higgins, the Great, is a coming of age story about M.C. (Mayo Cornelius), a 15-year-old African American boy who lives in the shadow of Sarah's Mountain.  The mountain has been strip mined for years and a dangerous slag heap threatens to slide down onto their house.  M.C. lives in constant stress about this, despite the reassurances his father gives.  His joy is climbing his 40 ft. pole and sitting on the top as he looks out over the mountain.  He keeps an eye on his younger siblings and sees any strangers who might approach.

 

One of these strangers is a man who is making recordings of people in the valley.  M.C. is sure that his mother will become famous and be the family's ticket off the mountain.  And although he really wants to leave, he also can't imagine living anywhere else.

 

The other stranger is a girl, 16 or 17, who sets up camp by a lake and who M.C. falls in love with.

 

He has a friend who lives not far from their family.  Ben is super light-skinned and has 6 fingers. M.C. is told not to associate with Ben or any of his family as they are considered "witchy" folk. 

 

The relationship between M.C. and his dad is complex and I don't pretend to unerstand it.  I wonder if the author understood it.  I found that this quote about her works pretty much covered it.  "Since little is definitively resolved in Hamilton's works, the novel could reflect the indeterminacy of meaning in modern novels." (http://www.answers.com/topic/m-c-higgins-the-great-1)

 

That could be a reason I did not enjoy reading this book.  There was not enough resolution in the problems M.C. faced, or in his relationships.  I think this would be a bit mature for the average elementary student.  Better for middle schoolers.

 

Hamilton, Virginia.  M.C. Higgins, the Great. Simon and Schuster, 1974.