Review of Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper

Oh my!  It's September!  And another semester has started.  I am taking two classes this semester - Young Adult Literature and Storytelling.  I need to write two reviews a week for my YA class - so I will do my best to post them here as well as on Goodreads!  This week we are reading Classics and next week we are reading Award Winners.  Cooper's book falls into both categories, I believe.  I know I read this with the boys when they were younger.  In fact, the series was one of Jazzbo's favorites.  But I had forgotten the details so decided to revisit it.  I am so glad I did!  If you have not read it, please give it a go.  It's a great story - fantasy at its core but the first one is more of a mystery/adventure. I must admit that I like the cover on the new edition MUCH better than the cover on the one I read!

This is the first book in Susan Cooper's wonderful series The Dark is Rising. The story focuses on the adventures of three siblings - Simon, Jane, and Barnabas - who are on holiday to the coast of Cornwall. They are staying with their Great Uncle Merry (aka Gummery) in a big Gray House. One rainy day, the children go exploring and discover a wardrobe. I wonder if all books with wardrobes end up being delightful? Anyway - they don't go through this one but instead move it to reveal a secret ladder that leads to the attic. A fear of rats leads to the discovery of a very old vellum scroll that the children initially believe is a treasure map. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones interested in finding this legendary treasure. After someone breaks into the Gray House in search of the "map", the children reveal their discovery to Gummery who is thrilled with their discovery and assists them on their quest.
One of my favorite parts was when young Barnabas gets himself into quite a pickle by venturing out on his own. Afterwards he determines that his daydreams of questing on his own as a solo knight might not be as wonderful as he had once imagined. It's quite the "growing up" moment for him.
Cooper's descriptions of the Cornwall seaside are spectacular - you can almost smell the sea air as you read the book. The characters of Simon, Jane, and Barnabas are well-developed and I believe children today would be able to relate to them, just as they do to the children depicted in the Chronicles of Narnia. The book is, at its core, a classic struggle between good and evil with overtones of King Arthur and his court central to the story. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series!

Cooper, S. (2007). Over Sea, Under Stone. New York:  Random House Listening Library. Narrated by Alex Jennings.  Originally published in England in 1965.