A book I can't recommend strongly enough
This week, Seaward by Susan Cooper is being reissued. It's been out of print since, like, forever, so this is a perfect opportunity to get your hands on it.
And you will want to get your hands on it.
The plot is straightforward enough on the surface. Cally and Westerly both find themselves traveling through a magical land, for very different reasons; their paths cross; they team up; obstacles are overcome, friendships are forged, romance blossoms, sacrifices are made - pretty much everything you'd expect from a YA fantasy.
But Seaward is YA fantasy the same way Up is a kid's movie: yeah, it is, but it goes to some heavy places that belie the label. Characters die, and characters meet with fates worst than death. Happy endings are not guaranteed. There's a scene, as Cally and Westerly leave the desert, that breaks my heart every time. Magic dream-towers, living chessboards, selkies, and stone people aside, this is a story about life and death, the good stuff and the bad stuff, the hard lessons that make you a better person. (That's all tremendously vague, but I'm trying to be as non-spoilery as possible, sorry.)
If you're not interested in the plot, then come for the art. Cooper is a master writer, and her skill is all over this finely-tuned little gem. She sets atmosphere like no one's business. The opening lines:
Westerly came down the path at a long lope, sliding over the short moorland grass. His pack thumped against his back with each stride. A lark flicked suddenly into the air a yard away from him; flew low for a few feet; dropped; flew again.
"Go home," he said. "It's not you they want."
A sunny day in the countryside - you can almost smell that grass - and then, bam!, a shark in the water. Subtle, precise work. And the whole book is like that. It's amazing.
Last thought: I first read Seaward in middle school and fell in love with the surface story. As an adult (after I tracked down a 1983 former-library-book on Amazon), I read it again and was amazed at all the nuances my eleven-year-old self had missed. It's a different story, almost, though still just as wonderful. In another twenty years, I'm sure I'll find something new in it all over again. And a book like that is worth $6.99. Go buy it. ;)
And you will want to get your hands on it.
The plot is straightforward enough on the surface. Cally and Westerly both find themselves traveling through a magical land, for very different reasons; their paths cross; they team up; obstacles are overcome, friendships are forged, romance blossoms, sacrifices are made - pretty much everything you'd expect from a YA fantasy.
But Seaward is YA fantasy the same way Up is a kid's movie: yeah, it is, but it goes to some heavy places that belie the label. Characters die, and characters meet with fates worst than death. Happy endings are not guaranteed. There's a scene, as Cally and Westerly leave the desert, that breaks my heart every time. Magic dream-towers, living chessboards, selkies, and stone people aside, this is a story about life and death, the good stuff and the bad stuff, the hard lessons that make you a better person. (That's all tremendously vague, but I'm trying to be as non-spoilery as possible, sorry.)
If you're not interested in the plot, then come for the art. Cooper is a master writer, and her skill is all over this finely-tuned little gem. She sets atmosphere like no one's business. The opening lines:
Westerly came down the path at a long lope, sliding over the short moorland grass. His pack thumped against his back with each stride. A lark flicked suddenly into the air a yard away from him; flew low for a few feet; dropped; flew again.
"Go home," he said. "It's not you they want."
A sunny day in the countryside - you can almost smell that grass - and then, bam!, a shark in the water. Subtle, precise work. And the whole book is like that. It's amazing.
Last thought: I first read Seaward in middle school and fell in love with the surface story. As an adult (after I tracked down a 1983 former-library-book on Amazon), I read it again and was amazed at all the nuances my eleven-year-old self had missed. It's a different story, almost, though still just as wonderful. In another twenty years, I'm sure I'll find something new in it all over again. And a book like that is worth $6.99. Go buy it. ;)