The Hobbit

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein, 1937 Allen & Unwin Publishers

     Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit, not one of those hobbits that goes off and has adventures like the Tooks, even if he is a Took on his mother's side, but a respectable hobbit who keeps a respectable table and lives a respectable life in the Shire. At least he is until Gandalf the wizard arrives on his doorstep with a gaggle of dwarves and an adventure in search of a mountain, a dragon, and a treasure.
     The dwarves have had their mountain home, the Lonely Mountain, stolen from them by the dragon Smaug. An ancient prophecy's clues are coming true and the final object they need to collect is a "burglar" who they find in Bilbo. The group sets out, Gandalf, the dwarves, and Bilbo, traveling on ponies to find a way to read their map.
     The journey sends the travelers across the Misty Mountains toward  the city of the elves, but the troupe is waylaid by trolls. Through Bilbo's trickery, they survive and continue on their way. They enter the goblins' lands where Bilbo is separated from the rest of his group, answers a series of riddles for Gollum, and finds the One Ring (though he does not yet know what it is). His reputation is much improved when he rejoins the dwarves in one piece.
     Gandalf calls to an eyrie of Eagles when the goblins and strange, wolf-like wargs take chase. The fellowship takes refuge for a short time, but continue on their way through Murkwood where they encounter giant spiders. Bilbo saves them, only for the group to be captured by wood-elves and Bilbo must save them again. They escape downriver and make their way to Lake-town.
     In Lake-town the humans hope to be rescued from Smaug when the dwarves fulfill the prophecy. They aid the travelers in their quest as best they can. Gandalf's map helps Bilbo, Thorin, and the rest of the dwarves find the secret door. Bilbo is sent in and maps the plan of attack. In addition to finding the chink in Smaug's armor, Bilbo brings back a golden cup from the hoard sparking the dragon's vengeance on Lake-town. Through a twist of gossip, the town's defender and the King of the Dale's heir, Bard, manages to kill the dragon and the dwarves take back their ancient home.
     But the story is not over there. When the elves and humans demand compensation for their aid, Thorin Oakenshield, now king, refuses them and war becomes immanent. When Bilbo finds the Arkenstone (the heart of the mountain and dwarves' greatest treasure) he hands it over to the elves' leader in hopes of preventing the war, but Thorin banishes the hobbit and war becomes inevitable. Gandalf arrives with the news that an army of goblins and wargs is headed their way. The fighting races band together to fight their common enemy, and the Battle of Five Armies commences.
     The humanoids appear to be losing until the timely arrival the Eagles and Beorn, a shape-shifting bear-man, turn the tide. In the battle, Thorin is fatally injured, but reconciles with Bilbo before his death. The people of Lake-town rebuild, and the travelers are rewarded. Bilbo takes only a small portion of his reward, but still returns home a very wealthy hobbit.
     Bilbo's story encourages readers to look beyond what they believe is possible for themselves, to strive to be the best person they may be. Bilbo doesn't believe in himself, doesn't even join the journey until his honor is questioned and he demands that he can do what they expect of him, but after he has joined the troupe, it is Bilbo who saves them repeatedly from the dangers they face, not Gandalf (though he helps), not Thorin (he gets them into some of the scrapes): it is Bilbo Baggins of Bag End who is not one of those hobbits that goes off on adventures who saves the day.
     For this reason Tolkein's prequel to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy becomes a classic, just as the trilogy itself does. The story may not be appropriate for readers under the age of 10-years-old, and with each re-telling, older readers clean a new satisfaction from the familiar tale.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, 1997 Bloomsbury Publishing

     In the first book of the Harry Potter series, Harry is an eleven-year-old living with his cruel Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon Dursley. His parents were killed when he was only one year old and his aunt and uncle refuse to speak of it, other than to tell young Harry that his parents were worthless. To make matters even more unfair, Harry lives in a cupboard under the stairs while his cousin is spoiled with two bedrooms of his own and anything he could possibly ask for. Everything changes on Harry's eleventh birthday.
     A letter arrives in the mail, addressed directly to Harry Potter, cupboard under the stairs. The Dursleys throw the letter away before Harry can open it, and when others arrive, they dispose of them as well, until they cannot stop Harry from opening a copy of the letter inviting him to attend Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Still Harry is kept from preparing for school until a representative of the school, Hagrid, appears on Harry's birthday to tell him he is a wizard and to help him phase into the wizarding world.
     Harry catches the train to school and meets Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, with whom he becomes good friends, Draco Malfoy and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle, who become Harry's arch enemies, and a slew of other characters who continue through the story with him. When they arrive at Hogwarts the first-years are sorted into houses where they will live for their time at school. Harry and his friends are sorted into Gryffindor where the rest of Ron's family has been sorted, while Malfoy and his crowd are sent to Slytherin.
     The school year commences and Harry meets Professor Minerva McGonagall, head of Gryffindor and transfiguration professor, Professor Severus Snape, head of Slytherin and potions master, other professors, wizards and witches important to the wizarding world, Professor Quirinus Quirrell the defense against the dark arts professor, and Professor Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts. McGonagall takes on a motherly role in Harry's life while Snape spends his every waking moment making Harry's life as difficult as possible, and there's just something about Quirrell that makes Harry's scar hurt.
     It isn't until Malfoy's mockery and Hermione's open-mouthed awe make him start asking questions that Harry is told about Voldemort and the significance of his lightning-bolt scar. When Harry was just a baby, Voldemort was the most dangerous and evil wizard that had ever existed seeking world domination and immortality, for some reason he came after Harry trying to kill him, and gave the infant not only the protection of his mother's sacrifice, but also the power to overthrow Voldemort himself.
     Harry and his friends go about their days, but there are little things about Hogwarts that make them question what they see. When Professor Snape starts acting strangely, they begin to suspect he is trying to steal whatever it is that's hidden on the forbidden third floor corridor. When they discover it isn't Snape, but Quirrell, and the parasitic Lord Voldemort on the back of his head, they must go after him. Through teamwork they manage to make it past the challenges set before them, but only one may continue to the end. Harry confronts Quirrell and rescues the Sorcerer's Stone, but not before being injured by the escaping spirit of Voldemort when he flees Quirrell's corpse.
     The friendship between Harry, Hermione, and Ron sets the tone for the series, providing support and strength for each of the three friends. Why three first-year wizards can make it past the guards meant to hold back one of the most dangerous wizards of all time is a troubling question, but shows their synergy and its power.

Many Waters

Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle, 1986 Ferrar, Straus & Giroux

   Dennys and Sandy Murry are the somewhat normal twin brothers of Meg and Charles Wallace Murry. When they disturb something in their mother's lab and are swept away from New England's winter into, what they assume to be, an alien world. The twins encounter humans, much shorter than the two teens, a miniature mammoth, unicorns that are both there and not quite there at the same time, and a water prospector named Japheth.
     Japheth offers to take Sandy and Dennys to the nearest oasis, but on the journey both boys get heatstroke, and the unicorn Dennys rides runs off. Sandy remains with Japheth and his grandfather Lamech.
     Dennys reappears, but is thrown into the garbage pile at the oasis. Even worse off, he is taken to the tent of the patriarch who he discovers is Lamech's son and Japheth's father, Noah.
     The twins realize they've been transported into Biblical times, to the time of Noah, just before the great flood. The improbable creatures that tend to the boys, the pelican, scarab beetle, and lion are merely the animal hosts of seraphim who are unusually aware of the science of modern Earth. Their counterparts, the nephilim are distrustful of the twins and their presence in Noah's world and try to discover the purpose behind their visit.
     Sandy and Dennys live at the oasis for about a year, becoming more independent of each other, and learning the complexity of the world around them and the complexity of themselves both as a twin brothers, and as individuals. When the time comes for the great flood, the boys are left behind, yet they still help build the Ark and leave their mark on Noah's family.
     Many Waters is the story of how Sandy and Dennys forge their own identities separate from the unit that everyone else views them as. Their travel through the Biblical world mirrors the journey made by their sister and brother in the previous three novels of the series and informs each boy's transformation. The ties to Bible stories are woven through out L'Engle's tale in an obvious, yet understated manner that stimulates thought. Readers both young and old can follow the evolution of Dennys and Sandy as they face adversity, find and lose love, and stick to their values, despite danger and drama. An ideal audience would be early teens facing the challenges of high school.

The Silver Chair

The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis, 1953 Geoffrey Bles

     Eustace Scrubb has returned to school after his first trip to Narnia. When he and his friend Jill Pole are running from bullies they suddenly find themselves in Narnia, but in a place Eustace has never seen: Aslan's land near a cliff. Jill tries to show off, but Eustace falls off the cliff. Aslan appears and tells Jill they have been summoned to find the heir Prince Rilian. He tells her the task was made the more difficult when Eustace fell, now she'll have to remember the Four Signs on her own. Aslan then blows her to meet Eustace in Narnia proper with a gust of breath.
     Eustace is taken to the Owl Council who decide that if the children are going to go on such a dangerous journey someone needs to go with them. Puddleglum, a marsh-wiggle, is chosen to join them. They leave from the Narnian marshes North to Ettinsmoor where the giants live.
     They encountered a woman in a fluttering green dress accompanied by a knight in dark armor who remained silent. The woman introduced herself as the Lady of the Green Kirtle and sent the children to a castle where friendly giants supposedly lived. The group rushed there, heedless of the Signs Aslan had given them, in their desire for a warm bath and comfortable bed. When they were trying to escape Jill found a cookbook open to the page for "Man" and a section on Marsh-wiggle, the trio hurried to make plans to escape. They managed to get free, but were trapped in the Underland.
     Lost, Jill, Puddleglum, and Eustace run into Earthmen, natives of Underland. The Earthmen take them across a sunless sea and to a dark castle where they find the Lady of the Green Kirtle again: the queen of Underland. The dark knight sits with them while they wait for the Lady, but Earthmen come into the room and tie him to a Silver Chair warning the travelers to leave him there regardless of what he says. When the knight speaks the words of the last sign the children release him, for fear of messing up the fourth sign like the first three. The knight rises and destroys the chair, then introduces himself as Prince Rilian of Narnia.
     When the Lady does arrive she tries to enchant the group with sweet-smelling smoke and a stringed instrument. They do not give in, angering the witch. She turns into a green serpent and attacks Rilian; he fights her off and though she was coiled around Rilian, the group manages to kill her. A chasm opens to the land of Bism and the disenchanted Earthmen go home through it.
     The four hurry through the tunnel the Lady commanded the Earthmen to dig, a passage of conquest leading to Narnia. Rilian is able to arrive at the castle at Cair Paravel in time to see his father, Caspian X whom Eustace and his cousins had traveled with. Caspian recognizes his son and Rilian is able to take his proper place as king. The children return home and, with the help of Aslan and Caspian, frighten off the bullies chasing them.

     This is one of the less busy of Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, with much of the novel taken with travel. However, the story has important themes of identity, persistence, and faithfulness to purpose. The story is written to middle elementary, but some of the themes are better geared toward older readers--eleven to thirteen years.