Grades 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, Inc.

"When most people hear 'large-print book,' they immediately think senior citizen. But large-print editions of popular children's books -- from the powerhouse Harry Potter series to timeless classics like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- are now making their way onto the shelves of the Children's Department at the Canton Library. . . . Although large-print editions are targeted to the visually-impaired or dyslexic child, they can also be used by standard-vision readers. So Kershner [Children's librarian at the Canton Public Library] has decided against creating a special section in the Children's Department (as exists in the Adult Department) opting instead to intersperse large-print books on the shelves with the regular print versions of the same titles."
-- The Observer and Eccentric (October 2000) (The Observer and Eccentric )

"Thorndike Press has helped me not only find books I want to read, but they also look like regular books. That's important when you're a kid and you can only read Large Print, you want your book to look like all the other books. I'm reading a lot more now that we have found Thorndike Press."
-- Jim Bernardin, Islamorada, FL

"Everyone loves to read, there's nothing like curling up with a good book. We're a reading family, so when our son was diagnosed with Stargardt's Disease and only able to read Large Print, it was particularly difficult. Books on tape are wonderful but they don't fill the void of actually reading a good story. Large Print books have been around a long time for older people, but to find a good novel for a young person in Large Print began to feel nearly impossible. The books that Thorndike Press publishes have truly made a difference in my son's reading life. He can enjoy current novels as well as some of the classics that he missed reading when it became too difficult with regular print."
-- Sara Bernardin, Islamorada, FL

"Susan Cooper is one of the few contemporary writers who . . . create the kind of sweeping conflict between good and evil that lies at the heart of all great fantasy."
-- Psychology Today