The Joys of Love

The Joys of Love by Madeleine L'Engle, 2008 Farrar, Straus & Giroux

     On a stage balanced over the ocean's edge Elizabeth Jerrold is an apprentice of the summer theater company. Acting is her dream and this summer is her chance to make the dream come true. After four years of chemistry at college, Liz convinced her aunt to fund this summer job in exchange for her cooperation. But when Aunt Harriet calls to summon Liz back to Virginia for immoral behavior, Elizabeth fights for one last week to work under her idol, Valborg Andersen. 
     Events conspire to allow Liz one more week, but that week holds more than she bargained for. When the politics of the theater rip away the prime opportunity for Liz to break into professional acting, her friends step in and make it a week to remember. 
     Practicing scenes, managing the box office, and free time on the beach fill the friends' free time while they each discover their own hopes and dreams. Liz fights the expectations placed upon her to find her path; from Ben, the sweet, loyal young man who stays by her side through trouble; to the sophisticated director/producer who flits from woman to woman with the sense of his own importance Elizabeth must choose between the choices presented, or step off the boardwalk adn trudge her own path across the sand. 
     Liz's story, while steeped in romance, is more than the usual young adult meandering about a life's plan gone awry. She is passionate and, at twenty, has an integral belief in who she is. Teens and young adults can enjoy and relate to her story as she grows to accept those things she cannot change, but also battles to chance those things she can.

Young Unicorns

The Young Unicorns by Madeleine L'Engle, 1968 Farrar, Straus & Giroux

     After their cross-country vacation the Austin family settles into New York for a year in the big city. Dr. Austin has been asked to assist in the creation and perfection of a micro-beam laser. While he is working on the project his children meet a variety of people: Emily is a blind musical prodigy, her companion is Josiah "Dave" Davidson who helps Emily get around; Emily's music teacher Mr. Theo, Cannon Tallis working at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, and several unsavory characters from Dave's past with a gang, the Alphabats.
     The friendship with Emily and Dave leads to a mystery involving a Genie, the local bishop, and Dave's former gang. Cannon Tallis works to protect the Austin children from the grimy underworld they discover, and the connection to their father.
     While Dr. Austin's laser has several medical and technical benefits, the mystery which enthralls John, Vicky, Suzy, and Rob Austin reveals forces willing to use it for unknown nefarious purposes. Along with the Austins and their friends, Cannon Tallis works to unearth the forces roiling around the small-town family in the big city.
     The Young Unicorns is a change of scene for the Austin family and links to other stories in L'Engle's universe, while focusing on the story from Dave's point of view. Cannon Tallis is recently returned from the events of The Arm of the Starfish and the Austins are returning from their adventures in The Moon by Night. Written for middle school readers, The Young Unicorns holds interest for readers of all ages.

The Moon by Night

The Moon by Night by Madeleine L'Engle, 1963 Farrar, Straus & Giroux

     For a summer between their lives in Thornhill and a stint in New York City the Austin family adventures across the United States. They are to visit Dr. Austin's brother and his new family, Maggy Hamilton (an orphan who has been living with the Austins) and her legal guardian Elena, Mr. Austin's new wife.
     Leaving Connecticut the family camps at campgrounds and alongside the road heading ever westward. In Tennessee they meet a teenage gang, in Texas they rescue children from a flood, in Utah they discover an abandoned baby. The journey is an adventure through contemporary society with traces of the Cold War, and anti-US sentiment at a campground in Canada.
     The fourteen-year-old Vicky Austin meets Zachary Gray at a campground in Tennessee and the young man fascinates her. The Gray family has everything they could want in material possessions: their luxurious camp trailer is pulled by a top-model hearse-like station wagon. But the Grays seem to lack what the Austins take for granted--their loving relationship.
     Despite his charm, or maybe because of it, Zachary is confident in his pursuit of Vicky throughout the country. The rest of the family doesn't like him, but the elder Austin daughter is growing up and searching for her independence so encourages his attention. When another young man, more appropriate in her family's eyes, takes an interest Zachary becomes jealous.
     Trouble seems to follow Zachary Gray and Vicky cannot save him from himself. She struggles with developing her sense of self and the summer of her "difficult year" pushes Vicky toward a more adult take on life. The second Austin Family novel is meant for middling readers--late elementary school through early high school--and can remind readers of the struggles that come with growing older.

The Arm of the Starfish

The Arm of the Starfish by Madeleine L'Engle, 1965 Farrar, Straus & Giroux

     Young Adam Eddington has been awarded a prestigious internship with Dr. Calvin O'Keefe and his family in Portugal. Dr. O'Keefe and his wife Meg Murry O'Keefe have several children including their eldest twelve-year-old Polyhymnia, or Polly. Before he leaves the United States, Adam is warned against trusting another passenger--Cannon Tallis who is escorting Polly O'Keefe back to her parents--by the beautiful Kali, daughter of a rich American industrialist.
     Adam is taken in by the beautiful face and is on guard against the Cannon's friendly overtures. When the Cannon's plans go awry and Adam escorts Polly from Madrid to Lisbon she disappears from the plane and Kali's father helps Adam rescue her. The more involved Adam becomes the more confused he is and the harder it is to decipher whom he can trust.
    The situation reveals two factions secretly warring over control of the limb regeneration research Dr. O'Keefe is developing. Adam finds a connection to the O'Keefe's and their concern over the "fall of the sparrow" and what happens to those unable to protect themselves. By casting his lot with theirs, Adam faces several ethical dilemmas and ultimately learns the dangers of trusting outward appearances.
     Meg and Calvin O'Keefe feature in L'Engle's Time Quartet with the Murry family. In the first novel featuring their family Adam is merely a visitor, who will continue in the Austin Family series. Adam grows from a naive teen into a world-weary young man over the course of his trials. The novel illustrates how appearances can be deceiving and that though the choice may be difficult there are always people willing to make your difficult choices for you--to their benefit.
     The Arm of the Starfish is a fast-paced novel involving espionage, romance, and betrayal. Readers of all ages will enjoy the novel though it is aimed more at middle and high school readers.

A Ring of Endless Light

A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle, 1980 Farrar, Straus & Giroux

     Vicky Austin and her family are spending the summer with her grandfather on Seven Bay Island at his home. Grandfather Eaton is dying of leukemia and the Austins are spending as much time with him as they can. At the beginning of their visit, though, Commander Rodney of the Coast Guard--a family friend--dies saving a kid who went sailing during a summer storm.
     After the funeral she discovers Zachary, her boyfriend from the previous summer, was the kid Commander Rodney saved and indirectly caused his death. Zachary was attempting to kill himself, and Vicky begins to see death everywhere from the publicity of the newspaper to the privacy of her family. Zachary wants Vicky to help him keep his grip on reality, to center and anchor him as the world sways around him.
     Commander Rodney's son, Leo, tries to get over his father's death by immersing himself in his friendship with Vicky. At first his friendship is easily acceptable, a continuation of their childhood camaraderie. But as time goes on Leo wants more than Vicky can give.
     Leo and Zachary aren't the only young men vying for Vicky's attention, her new acquaintance is an intern at the research lab on Seven Bay Island. Adam Eddington worked with Commander Rodney on his dolphin project. When Vicky meets his dolphin companions she is stunned at their joyful personalities and the relationships they develop with Adam and each other.
     As the summer progresses Vicky wavers between the three young men and how they each influence her. Death seems to surround her, and though life presents its distractions there is nothing to stop the darkness from swallowing her. When she does fall into the darkness it isn't Leo's friendship or Zachary's flair that bring her out of the depths. Adam's persistence, wholesome concern, and understanding of what makes Vicky tick bring her back from the darkness.
     In A Ring of Endless Light readers get to know and understand Vicky as she learns more about herself, what she wants from a relationship, and the frustrations of mortality. L'Engle deals with one of the biggest difficulties of growing up in a manner appropriate for teens and older children. The book is targeted at teens but has elements that appeal to readers of all ages.

Meet the Austins

Meet the Austins by Madeleine L'Engle, 1960 Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

     When their honorary uncle and his co-pilot die in a plane crash, the Austins take in the co-pilot's orphaned daughter, Maggy Hamilton. Maggy is spoiled rotten and causes chaos in the Austin household. Vicky, her older brother John, younger sister Suzy, and little brother Rob each are both the victim of Maggy's antics and the recipient of her lightning-quick affectionate outbursts.
     The story follows the incidents that transform Maggy and the Austin children, especially Vicky, during her time with the family. Maggy favors Suzy with attention further straining the relationship between Vicky and her sister. As the stories continue twelve-year-old Vicky becomes more aware of her actions and their consequences, just as Maggy comes to find her place in the Austin home.
     Unlike many of the other Austin Family stories, Meet the Austins is episodic and jumps from one point in time to another telling anecdotes as life changes for the Austin family. The younger characters relate better to younger readers focusing on older elementary and middle school readers.

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.

A Swiftly Tilting Planet

A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle, 1978 Farrar, Straus & Giroux

     Ten years after their adventures with the Echthroi in A Wind in the Door Meg and Calvin are married and expecting their first child. Meg spends Thanksgiving with the Murry family and Calvin's mother, Mrs. O'Keefe, while Calvin is at a conference in Britain. When the family hears of impending nuclear war caused by "Mad Dog Branzillo", dictator of a fictional South American country, Mrs. O'Keefe charges Charles Wallace with preventing the war and arms him with "Patrick's Rune" a spell of protection passed down from her Irish ancestors.
     Charles Wallace goes to the family's star-watching rock and begins reciting the rune. He summons Gauidor, a unicorn from the heavens, who explains that Charles Wallace must travel through time to merge his mind with other people who have lived near the star-watching rock and change "might-have-beens" and alter the course of history. Charles Wallace is confused how events in New England will change what happens in South America, but the changes Charles Wallace makes act through a Butterfly Effect making larger changes in the modern world.
     As he travels the Echthroi return and each change for the good that Charles Wallace fights for is opposed by their forces trying to maintain the 'evil' outcome. Charles Wallace visits a Native American boy, a Welsh trans-atlantic voyager, a welsh colonist, an American Civil War writer, and Mrs. O'Keefe's brother as a child. Meg uses the technique kything that she learned in A Wind in the Door to keep in touch with Charles Wallace telepathically on his adventures.
     Charles Wallace discovers the connection between New England and Mad Dog Branzillo, but his alteration of "might-have-beens" causes a peaceful man to be born, rather than the crazed dictator.
     The story of A Swiftly Tilting Planet shows how small events in everyday life can change the world and suggests a way for the reader to act in his or her own life that makes the future of our world a more desirable one. The story is suitable for older children, around fifth or sixth grade, however, some of L'Engle's language may be difficult for young readers. Older readers will discover new dimensions of the reading with each revisit.

A Wind in the Door

A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle, 1973 Ferrar, Straus & Giroux

   After the events of A Wrinkle in Time Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin are back in their world where Charles Wallace is suffering from a progressive disease thought to be caused by his mitochondria. Meg is worried about her brother and finds his new school principal is the high school's former principal (Meg thinks Mr. Jenkins has a grudge against her family when he refuses to help with Charles Wallace's bullying). When he appears in the Murrys' back yard, Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin encounter a Cherubim named Proginoskes, whom they nickname Progo. The three children and the winged mass of a cherub discover they have been called to learn from the Teachers Blajeny and Louise the Larger, a tall robed man and snake who lives in the Murry family's walls.
     The group learns about Echthroi, a group of creatures trying to un-make the universe by Un-Naming the things that create it. To stop the Echthroi from unmaking Mr. Jenkins Meg must distinguish him from two doubles and find a connection to the good in him. They discover that Charles Wallace's troubles are caused by the Echthroi's efforts to convince his mitochondrial farandola not to mature. Meg and Calvin travel into one of Charles Wallace's mitochondria, named Yadah, and convince the immature fara to take root and mature. Meg is very nearly Un-Named, but she and Calvin are successful. When Mr. Jenkins is almost invaded by his doubles Progo volunteers to fill the emptiness that is the Echthroi, sacrificing himself to return everything to normal and save the universe.
     Like many of Madeleine L'Engle's works, the language of A Wind in the Door can be difficult for younger readers, but the struggle between light and dark is a common theme in youth literature. Readers in middle to late elementary may need help with the reading, but are a good audience for the story itself. Older readers might find Meg's concerns for Charles Wallace overbearing and the worries of an overly concerned sister, however bullying is a largely ignored theme and mainly serves to introduce Mr. Jenkins. A Wind in the Door is a good read for any age.

A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, 1962 Farrar, Straus & Giroux

     Margaret Murry is known as Meg by her family. Though she is brilliant at math, Meg is the average one in a family of geniuses: her ten-year-old twin brothers Sandy and Dennys are brilliant with sports and most things mechanical; the youngest brother, Charles Wallace, only began speaking at four years old (though he began speaking in complete sentences with an extensive vocabulary immediately) and at five he has an uncanny ability to telepathically read others' thoughts and emotions; her mother is a beauty and a microbiologist working with scientific concepts Meg cannot seem to grasp, but that Charles Wallace easily explains; Meg's father is a physicist working with the government on a project called a tesseract. At thirteen Meg constantly compares herself to her brilliant and beautiful mother and the comparison leads to feelings of inferiority. When Meg meets Calvin O'Keefe, a fourteen-year-old high school junior, and the two begin to develop a deep and lasting relationship.
     When Meg's father goes missing, she has hope that he'll return, but the fear that he has left the family intentionally wreaks havoc on her emotional stability. One day, during a storm Mrs. Whatsit comes to the Murry home and Charles Wallace announces it time to go on a quest in search of their father. The children go out into the nearby woodland, meet Calvin, and encounter Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which. The three women are angelic beings with vast knowledge of the Black Thing who help Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin in their search for Mr. Murry.
     The Mrs. "W"s use the tesseract to move the three children through space from earth to Uriel, a planet filled with centaur-like creatures who live in a state of light and love. It is there that the three children are first hear about the Black Thing and its mission to take over the Universe. They next travel by tesseract to the land of the "Happy Medium", she looks into her crystal ball and shows the fight against the Dark Thing on earth, how figures throughout history have fought against it, and how the tide may turn.
     The next stop is the planet Comazotz, a planet dominated by the Black Thing. The people are robotic and controlled by a hive-mind called "IT". When the children encounter the embodiment of IT, it convinces Charles Wallace to look into his eyes and become a vessel for the creature. He then leads his sister and her friend to the place where Mr. Murry is held captive, then to the place where IT was centralized. The concentrated power of Comazotz's telepathic ruler nearly takes over Meg and Calvin as it had Charles Wallace, but Mr. Murry is able to transport the children from Comazotz in time.
     Unfortunately, Mr. Murry doesn't know how to protect the children as they travel through the Black Thing and Meg nearly dies. When they arrive in Ixchel, a neighboring planet, the local population helps to save and heal her. The trio of Ws appears and task Meg with rescuing her brother from the Black Thing. When Meg, Calvin, Charles Wallace, and Mr. Murry return home things are forever changed.
     When A Wrinkle in Time first went to publishers, many editors were hesitant about publishing a book that so obviously dealt with issues of good and evil, with a significant emphasis on religion. While a younger readership might skim over the blatant Christianity, older readers catch the allusions beyond L'Engle's text. The story is captivating and gives a more liberal take on the traditional Christian discourse. A good aged audience is twelve years or older.