I begin to lose hope of ever recovering my book, but one day I find him his own set in the thrift store. Maybe he'll actually go on to the next book in the series now. I love this book.
TEACHING GUIDE
I love this series. A friend of mine actually suggested it to me once many, many years ago, but I never read it. For some reason the name stuck in my mind, though. Happy I am that it did, for now I've another great series I can read and reread. As does my brother. One of these days I need to reread it. A shame that Hollywood's treatment of this classic book was so epically bad. It should be noted that while technically this is book two in the series, the saga really begins here, with Over Sea, Under Stone being a prequel of sorts.
On his eleventh birthday, he learns that he is a being of great power who is prophecied to "bring the circle to a close," ending a cycle of battles between the Light and the Dark that has been waged for thousands of years. Mentoring him in his quest is one of the most ancient and powerful of the Old Ones, a stern yet compassionate old wizard named Merriman.
Yes, perhaps this series was why, many, many years later, I took to Harry Potter despite being long out of the target age range for those books. In my opinion, Susan Cooper is an enormously better writer than J. Whereas Rowling's worldbuilding is a creatively zany hodge-podge of random fairy tales, mythological critters, and pun-Latin spells.
Cooper's is a carefully constructed reinterpretation of English myth. There is tons of lore even in the first book, from the obvious Arthurian references to the men out of time cursed to wander the world forever, to the Wild Hunt. And on a prose level, Cooper just writes better than Rowling too. Her imagery and especially her poetry is far more artful. That said, this is ultimately a rather dark and gloomy tale, even if the good guys win; there's very little of the fun and light-heartedness of Harry Potter, no secondary characters who become best friends.
Will Stanton's quest is mostly made up of tasks he must perform on his own, and his introduction to magic and the power of the Old Ones is not an entrance into a fantastic world of wizardry, but the realization that he's now an eternal warrior whether he likes it or not, and he's also been forever set apart from his family and everyone else he knows.
For a book targeted at young readers, it's pretty heavy stuff. There is of course not much direct violence though there is death , and the good guys are always good, the bad guys unambiguously bad. Though one character, a traitor who turned to the Dark, is as tragic a figure as Gollum, and far more sympathetic. But this isn't fun times with wands and owls. It's freezing storms blanketing all of England and sinister rooks and as much scary stuff as you can throw at a preternaturally-aged eleven-year-old boy.
I really liked The Dark is Rising upon rereading it, though to be honest, I would probably rate it only 4 stars if it were my first time reading it. While in my opinion a better work of literature than most juvenile fiction, including that really famous one with the Johnny-come-lately boy wizard, it does lack that indefinable quality of joy and fun that I guess made J.
Rowling the richest woman in England and not Susan Cooper. It's really a classic of children's fantasy literature, though. I will continue my reread of this series. A few years ago, Hollywood made a movie called Seeker: The Dark is Rising. Do not see this movie! I cannot describe how awful it is. Even aside from the book it's supposedly based on, it's just terrible and brainless one of my few 1-star ratings on Netflix , but when compared with Susan Cooper's book, it is truly painful to watch.
Susan Cooper deserved the J. Rowling treatment, and what she got was a dumbed-down Americanized piece of crap that bombed, deservedly, at the box office. View all 9 comments. Young Will was my delight, Merriman my heart of gold Christmas cheer my heart of joy All thanks, my lady Cooper. You have been ready at my hand To grant me what I often crave: A wintry chill across the land Villains dark and a child brave.
Black Rider was my delight, Maggie Barnes my heart of gold Christmas menace my heart of joy And tragic Walker to sting the soul. View all 26 comments. Sep 28, Lyn rated it liked it. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper is a young adult fantasy novel first published in The second book in the series of the same name, apparently the first book, Over Sea, Under Stone , was written for a younger audience and provides more of a prequel than a beginning point.
This book tells the tale of Will Stanton, who on his eleventh birthday learns that he is an Old One, a member of a group with magical powers who represent the Light, opposed to the members of the Dark. Cooper uses colorfu The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper is a young adult fantasy novel first published in Cooper uses colorful Celtic and Britannic legends and lore to create a world where Will must collect signs of power to be used against the forces of the dark. Cooper also uses time travel elements to further compliment this imaginative and well-written fantasy.
Not bad, but definitely for the younger crowd. View all 8 comments. Dec 28, Lightreads rated it it was amazing Shelves: The one of my heart. But not entirely a book of childhood. Unlike the rest of the series, this one is layered all through young adulthood for me. I read it countless times as a wee thing, of course, but it was also my book on a horrible flight home from Oxford after Trinity Term, and what I read the week I retired my first guide dog, and what I read in tiny pieces in the month after I lost my eye. Looking at that list is one of those foreheadslap moments where you notice that narrative refrain i The one of my heart.
Looking at that list is one of those foreheadslap moments where you notice that narrative refrain isn't something that happens only in fiction. This book recurs in my life the way Greensleevves recurs in the book. This is a book of departing for me, a book of loss.
Which is not surprising, since that's kind of what it's about. It's true there isn't much of a story here. It has this treasure hunt quality to it, where Will shows up somewhere and magic happens and then he gets a prize. There's this one part where Will beats back the Dark by being a coat rack. Straight up, he stands still and holds up the signs and waits. And this is textually celebrated as extraordinary, because the Old Ones have always needed their minds to beat back the Dark, but now they have things. I stopped reading there and blinked a lot, because you just don't see formulations like that in fantasy, and it was confusing because I remembered this book as being so much about the mind.
That's because it's not about the quest. And it's all about his mind. He has this beautiful, sad, double-voiced narration. One voice is eleven and content with life, and then afraid and delighted by magic in turns. And the other is the Old One, the overnight adult who alienates Will from his family and community. Coming into power -- and into symbolic adulthood -- is a process of endless loss for Will though of course it doesn't really ramp up until Silver on the Tree. This is the only book in the series to take place at home; all the others are on holiday.
Dark Water Rising Teacher’s Guide
It has to be at home, because you have to be home to lose home. So of course I read it in times of loss. But not in the expected way. I loved Will as a child, fiercely and without reserve, like a totem. There was something hopeful to this sad, sad book. It's like Will reading his book of magic within this book and being granted power through reading -- that's what I wanted, and a little of what I got.
That a child could be lifted out of childhood by knowing and by reading! And hey, look, here you guys are. There's a whole hell of a lot more going on here, with Merriman's bitter lesson through loss, of course that mortal men will break if trusted too well, used too hard. And the connected tidbit that I don't really have anything to say about yet, but I want to flag it for myself, because I willneed it later I think: View all 6 comments.
I suspect that the books of this sequence are among the most beautiful I've read. I get that feeling especially with this book. The tone here has changed already from the Blyton-esque kids-on-a-great-adventure of the first book, and the character is different accordingly. It's almost a bildungsroman, for all that we only see less than a month of an eleven year old boy's life. One of the main things I love about this sequence, particularly from this book on, is the characterisation.
Where Simon, J I suspect that the books of this sequence are among the most beautiful I've read. Where Simon, Jane and Barney were simplistic but also realistic in the first book, Will is now much more layered. There's a part of him that's a boy, and there's a part of him that's ancient and ageless, and in this book he's got to learn to balance the two, use the two, keep them separate where he can. In my opinion, this is beautifully done. One minute he's standing with the Lady and Merriman, fighting back the dark -- the next, boy like, he's making mistakes through over-enthusiasm.
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At first he cannot accept that he's not just an ordinary boy, and then he's playing tricks with his new-found powers. At the end, he acknowledges that sometimes he wishes he could just be an ordinary boy, but not always. It's not just Will, though. Despite it being a short book, you catch glimpses of so many characters who are worth thinking about, and yet Susan Cooper never loses focus either. The Stanton family are particularly well-drawn, in my opinion. There's so many of them that you can't get a fully-rounded picture of any of them, but you still feel as if maybe you've been to tea with them a couple of times -- or I do, anyway.
It's wonderful how Susan Cooper shows us so many characters and makes us care about them, so briefly and succinctly. The writing, of course, I think is lovely. I whisper it aloud to myself. There are some beautiful images and scenes -- the Doors, for example, and the appearance of the ship, the signs I love the way Susan Cooper writes. I've read reviews where people felt that nothing happened in these books. I find that hard to understand -- there's moments of real brooding menace, real magic, but I think people who are expecting swordfights and high fantasy in that sense are going to be disappointed.
Ultimately, the sequence concludes that the battle against the Dark is fought in men's hearts. That, in some ways, is not a "satisfying" conclusion -- yet it's a realistic one, and that's something I like. Reread in December The bit that struck me most this time, somehow, was the dead king who carried the Sign of Water. View all 3 comments. I saw the trailer for the upcoming movie—and more importantly, I saw Darcy's furious reaction to the trailer for the upcoming movie, and I realized that I didn't remember these books well enough to be properly furious myself.
I read the first two in the series, in the wrong order, when I was much younger, but didn't recall being particularly engaged by them, which was why I never continued. I figured that, rereading them as an adult, I'd see the error of my ways. I still don't find these books very engaging. Over Sea Under Stone is, as even Darcy admits, only so-so: They give the grail to a museum and get quid? Barney has his "Dude! I thought The Dark Is Rising would be better, but it didn't do much for me, either.
There's a lot of portentous stuff, but I felt that every scrape Will gets into he gets out of either through the intervention of an adult or thanks to a deus ex machina. Meanwhile, the Dark Rider and the Dark in general seemed oddly unthreatening to me, while being an agent of the Light did not seem particularly exciting or pleasurable. I never wished I was there: What is wrong with me?
Because I really do feel, having this reaction, that there must be something wrong with me and not the books: I suppose I didn't like The Lord of the Rings , either. View all 11 comments. Slightly ahead of the ideal time to read this book — which would be veeery slowly, a chapter or two at a time, over the Twelve Days of Christmas. I never have the patience for that! As usual, I loved The Dark is Rising; the quiet moments of enchantment, the beautiful writing, the warmth of the family relationships and the reality of the bickering, protective group of siblings.
The morality of the Light is a cold, clear justice. One thing I noticed a lot this time, though, was how Britain-centric the sequence is. As though the struggle between Light and Dark throughout history is focused on Britain. I love how rooted the books are in Britain, the landscape and the people and the different histories that intertwine, the Anglo-Saxon and the Celtic, the Roman. But the focus on Britain as the whole centre of the fight against the Dark seems short-sighted. Still, that is the other thing to love: Not just the Arthurian mythology, but the mysterious king whose dead hands held the Sign of Water for Will; the lore of the smiths; the Old Ways; Herne the hunter… I wish I could read beyond the pages into all that richness.
Jan 26, Sarah rated it it was ok Shelves: With The Dark is Rising , Susan Cooper sets the stage for a sweeping fantasy saga about nothing in particular. When Will Stanton, an English lad from an unusually large family, turns twelve, he finds out he is an Old One - a being of great and mysterious powers who can hop in and out of human time and space anytime he chooses. Occasionally assisted by Merriman Lyon, who was once called Merlin and is now passing himself off as an archaeology professor, Will sets off to assist The Light, who are goo With The Dark is Rising , Susan Cooper sets the stage for a sweeping fantasy saga about nothing in particular.
Occasionally assisted by Merriman Lyon, who was once called Merlin and is now passing himself off as an archaeology professor, Will sets off to assist The Light, who are good, because reasons, in their great struggle against The Dark, who are evil, because reasons. Will's quest is to do something and go somewhere, or more likely go somewhere else and watch somebody else do something that was important because it was. It does not bode well for this book that I read it only nine months ago and cannot for the life of me remember the plot, let alone the point.
Maybe because it possesses neither. Cooper dazzles with her strong prose. With words that sound like music together, she tricks you into thinking you're reading a good book that has meaning and occasionally even makes sense. If you then run off and read the three remaining books in the sequence as fast as you can I did , you might not notice until halfway through Silver on the Tree that this series is "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Cooper tries to set up her two sides as absolute good and absolute evil, but her book either doesn't know or doesn't care what those words actually mean. There is little distinction between the behaviors of the two sets of characters. Both are after power, use violence and deception to achieve their ends, and view ordinary people caught up in their confrontations as collateral damage.
And the critics compare this series to Narnia and Middle-earth, because England and pretty words. This is most manifest in the character of Will. He doesn't want any harm to come to his family because of him, but his feelings regarding them are alarmingly detached. I don't care if he's really a five-thousand-year-old inter-world traveler who is not their blood relative and only got plopped into their family because reasons.
As far as he knew until literally yesterday, these are his mum and his dad and his siblings we're talking about here. He ought to love them, not just care about them in this cool, distant, holier-than-thou way. Not to mention that Will has no discernible interests outside of being an Old One, and doesn't even seem particularly enthused about that.
He learns everything he needs to know about nearly everything in the universe over the course of a few minutes, and is never inquisitive about anything ever again. He is sedate and obedient to an unusual point for anyone. He's not close to any of his siblings or either parent. He doesn't seem to notice sports, science, action movies, comic books, rock music, or girls. In short, he is nothing like any twelve-year-old boy I ever met, and I doubt anyone else has met one like him either.
He is bland to the point of being creepy. He is so devoid of personality he makes Harry Potter look like Howl Jenkins. And what does being an Old One entail, exactly? By driving away The Dark. How does one do that? And time-travelling, to get, uh, artifacts. The Things of Power. What do the Things of Power do? Well, they can block people. And when you put them all together, they make a humming noise or Also, be sure to snipe at the good-hearted Anglican priest who's just trying to protect his flock. Silly man just doesn't understand that God and gods are silly superstition and the Old Ones are the real deal.
The anti-Christian found in so much of contemporary fantasy does not start with Rowling, or even with Pullman. It starts here, in this book. It starts with Cooper. I feel awful skewering a Newbery book like this, but I really wonder what the committee was thinking when they selected this one. Perhaps they were too bamboozled by Cooper's beautiful prose to notice that there is no character development, no plot, no overarching theme, and no story.
The next book in the series is Greenwitch , which is a lot better than this one if only because the Drews remember them from Over Sea, Under Stone? In conclusion, this book and this series are an incoherent mess that have done nothing to merit the title of "classic" except be around for forty years - and that is only because their underlying ideology is compatible with the narcissistic gnosticism of our time.
View all 4 comments. I suppose that what appeals to a child about a fantasy novel is the sense of mystery, adventure and the fact that no one in a fantasy novel need be powerless against the forces of evil let loose in the world. Haven't you ever dreamed about being able to use magic to solve the inconvenience of lacking a parking spot or being late to work? Isn't one of our greatest fears that sense of powerlessness, the frustration that we cannot control everything? I know that some people do not like this series.
I suppose it is better appreciated when read as a child. Reading it again now for the fifth or so time I see the simplicity of the narrative, those few elements that don't quite make sense or seem a little shallow. I must admit that the slight dig at how religion isn't relevant in this magical world also irks me in the book. But that said this is in the end a novel and when you can see those little things you laugh at them and then ignore them to enjoy the overall story.
Or at least I do. The one thing I've always appreciated about this series is the story of Dark versus Light, good versus evil, one boy discovering his supernatural powers. The three verse poem written above represents the entire sequence of this series which I prefer to read in the order of book 2, 1, 3, 4, 5 as for me the proper story begins here in the story of Will Stanton, last of the Old Ones. On his eleventh birthday, Will discovers that he has a calling to discover six magical signs which will enable the forces of the Light to begin their battle over evil.
Most of the mythology and fairytale elements of this story are taken from Celtic origins which is a fascinating set of mythology to me. But don't ever read this expecting Tolkien or Lewis I still rate them a little higher than this. But this is still a classic children's fantasy series and deserves to be read by audiences. Interestingly reading it today it still reads like the first time I read it. Only I'm an even faster reader now than I was then.
Perhaps my powers are awakening like Will's View all 24 comments. A good story; well told. Very English; magical realm beyond the mundane; contemporary more or less to the time of writing; YA that should appeal to adults, but it doesn't have the--dare I use this word? William, the eleven year old protagonist, is too passive. He floats through the book's big crises more as observer than an actor. Great things happen around him, but the reader does not feel that William i 3.
Great things happen around him, but the reader does not feel that William is engaged in them. His involvement and angst, if it exists, isn't communicated well. Also, despite his pack of brothers and sisters, I don't get the familiar interaction as among the Pervesie children or Harry and his friends. Which suggests another problem: Both Lewis and Rowling had it. In stories, as in life, the frivolous provides contrast for the serious. Perhaps it was because Cooper was moving toward Rowling in her ideals while staying closer to Lewis in her prose.
Perhaps she wasn't in sync with the pulse of the s. And, of course, her series had neither an Aslan nor a Hogwarts. Merriman is no Aslan nor a Dumbledore. And William is no Harry, nor Peter or even Edmund. Nov 21, Stephen rated it it was ok Shelves: I really thought I was going to like this more than I did. It was well-written and the premise of a story was interesting. I just never really got into the story and found myself waiting for something exceptional to happen.
That said, it wasn't a bad book and, being short, it didn't take too long to get through. Oct 28, Alex rated it really liked it Shelves: Stop me if you've heard this one: A boy living in England discovers on his 11th birthday that he has special powers. An early encounter with an enemy leaves him with a scar.
With guidance from a few mentors, he is trained and learns about the Dark, which he can vanquish by collecting several ancient objects. Well, putting aside my increasing irritation with J. Rowling's lack of originality, I really enjoyed this earlier novel, which was surprisingly well-written. Especially compared with A W Stop me if you've heard this one: The forces of the Dark are unfortunately kept pretty vague, and Will's quest seemed too easy throughout, as if it were merely happening to him, but I enjoyed the careful placement of details and the large number of important supporting characters, including 8 siblings.
I need to mention here that the book uses much Christian imagery, has several crucial scenes take place in a church, and is set almost entirely during Christmas time, but I was impressed by how little this bothered me -- it has hardly the blatant Christian overtones of C. Lewis or Madeleine L'Engle.
Again, another favorable comparison with A Wrinkle In Time. Furthermore, one character makes the point that the traditions involved predate Christianity, and indeed this book should appeal to anyone interested in the Pagan origins of Christmas. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
I loved this book very much in my early teens. Unfortunately it was a disappointing re-read. The imagery is still very beautiful, but I now find the worldbuilding unsatisfying. It suffers from the unquestioning existence of Good and Evil labels. The Good are good because they are born that way. Merriman, the protagonist's teacher, places great emphasis on the burden of being for the Light, which I now find disturbing, not noble: This includes memory-wipes to protect from what the Good deem unilaterally to be too much knowledge, and also the changing and endangering of ordinary people's lives, mandated by the rules of the magic that the Good serve.
In the end, as with many fantasy stories, the Good side seems to be good based mainly on poetic associations -- light, Christmas, warmth. The Evil are said to become evil by choice. This might give some opportunity for interesting, humanizing characterization of the evil characters, but it does not in the case of the "Rider" who is marked as evil mainly by the sinister feeling he produces in the protagonist or of Maggie Barnes, who is the only character in the book to express any sort of sexuality, and who is referred to dismissively by the eleven-year-old protagonist as "the girl.
We learn that he was an orphan, Merriman's liege man who loved him like a father. Because of their bond, he was chosen to be part of a spell protecting the Book of Gramarye. Using this spell, when Merriman retrieved the Book for the protagonist, he used the Walker's life as collateral. The Walker was shocked to realize that Merriman was willing to risk his death, and decided to betray him. Even though Merriman in godlike fashion understood how the Walker would choose, he cursed him to continue to help the side of Light by carrying one of its symbols for hundreds of years, living as a tramp and never being allowed even to die.
Besides seeing this situation as weighted against the Walker, on this reading I realized that the story is also assigning moral value to feudal loyalty. It would have best helped the Light if the Walker had accepted that it was right for Merriman to use his life for his cause. Instead he wanted to be Merriman's moral equal -- as Merriman puts it, "he loves as a man, wanting proof of love in return. Other parts of the story also promote this idea of traditional, hierarchical relations.
Most explicitly is the later episode in which the Dark is assailing the village with winter storms and the local gentrywoman offers to shelter everyone in her hall. The protagonist's father's refusal to take his own family there is presented as stubborn, prejudiced pride which has to be overcome. Then, the scene of the villagers gathered around the aristocrat is one of appropriate protection, beautiful and harmonious. These things are mostly subtle, but they align the old, patriarchal social order with the Light -- another unfortunate tendency common to many fantasy stories. May 09, Devin rated it it was ok Shelves: I saw the movie "The Seeker" which I now use as a standard to judge all movies I really dislike; but I was required by my class to read it so I did.
Honestly, the book was entertaining. But I still didn't like it for multiple reasons: The beginning was really hard to follow.
Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale
Susan Cooper needs to make it less work for the reader to try and figure out what's going on. The plot was good; the classic battle between the darkness and the light. But Will Stanton didn't have to make any sacrifices; seri I saw the movie "The Seeker" which I now use as a standard to judge all movies I really dislike; but I was required by my class to read it so I did. But Will Stanton didn't have to make any sacrifices; seriously zero. I thought this book was going to turn around when the Dark Rider threatened to kill his sister if he didn't give up the signs of power, but she didn't even get hurt.
I think any hero needs to make some great sacrifice in order to pass his testing. Basically, a character who had to pass a test, where though the threat of a sacrifice was present actually made no sacrifice, was never truely tested. The only reason the plot line was not unbearibly predictable was because it was so substandard I kept exspecting the author to take things to the next level.
Cool concepts, but there are way better books than this that present a more through understanding into what Susan Cooper was trying to accomplish.
It really reminded me of the story of The Argo, how it's all about Jason's quest to become a hero but he never even does anything; he has all the argonauts complete all his tasks for him. Definately not my style. More of my Christmas reading. This time, I'm struck as I never was as a teen how very bleak Cooper's universe of Light and Dark is. The Old Ones, for all they come from human families presumably, if Will Stanton is representative are not even a little bit human, and Light and Dark clash in ways that care nothing for individual men and women.
May 17, Charles Harris rated it it was amazing. It was published by Henry Holt in and has pages plus 12 Authors notes. Galveston Texas in the year The main character is Seth and other characters are Uncle Nate, Mr. Farrel, mom, and dad. Here is what happened early in the story: Seth and his family moved to Galveston by train Book Report for: Seth and his family moved to Galveston by train. They were waiting for Uncle Nate to pick them up. He came and picked them up and showed them around. Seth got a job building houses for Mr.
Farrel with some other boys. Covington and he was asking about Mr. Farrel and asking about how Mr. His aunt of the story had given Josiah some food and he was thankful.
Here is what happened at the end: Seth and his co-workers had went home and they got home right before the hurricane hit. After the hurricane water had went down the town was completely torn to peices. When the people tryed to sink the bodies they came back so they burned the bodies. Why did I like Seth? I liked Seth because he is a hard worker and never gives up. I choose this book because I wanted to learn about the hurricane.
Also my techer made me read it. Aug 24, Loraine rated it really liked it Shelves: Galveston, Texas, may be the booming city of the brand-new twentieth century, but to Seth, it is the end of a dream. He longs to be a carpenter like his father, but his family has moved to Galveston so he can go to a good school. Still, the last few weeks of summer might not be so bad. Seth has a real job as a builder and the beach is within walking distance. Things seem to be looking up, until a storm warning is raised one sweltering afternoon. No one could have imagined anything like this.
Giant walls of water crash in from the sea. Shingles and bricks are deadly missiles flying through the air. People not hit by flying debris are swept away by rushing water. Forget the future, Seth and his family will be lucky to survive the next twenty-four hours. Having lived near Galveston for 30 years and hearing the many stories of the horrible hurricane, it was fascinating to read a fictional account from the perspective of a young adult. This was definitely a coming-of-age story and the historical detail that Ms.
Hale included although sad and harrowing gave a true tale of the horrors that occurred from this disaster. She showed the heroics of the Galvestonians as well as their grit and determination in rebuilding their destroyed city. Seth and his family as well as Josiah and Ezra all showed the strength, resilience, and reliance on one another that allowed them to survive and overcome this epoch tragedy.
Sep 20, Keith rated it really liked it. Living near Galveston, this book had particular meaning for me and I really enjoyed reading a well researched fictional account of the storm and its aftermath. Seth is an immediately likeable character who is hard working, kind and considerate, but still has moments of relatable humanity such as being annoyed at having to take his sister to the outhouse. The language of the story flows off the author's pen in a smooth way that fosters a feeling of comfort and home. Seth and his family are import Living near Galveston, this book had particular meaning for me and I really enjoyed reading a well researched fictional account of the storm and its aftermath.
Seth and his family are important because they could have been our family. The horrors of the storm are handled beautifully by speaking mostly in personal human terms and not dwelling on the gruesomeness of the actual deaths. This is an important story, and this book is a great way to introduce young people to the tragedy in a relatable way. Dec 09, Erin Forson rated it really liked it. Seth, the protagonist of Dark Water Rising has no such understanding until he moves to Galveston, Texas. While the novel has a somewhat slow beginning, readers who stick out the first few chapters will learn that Galveston was the place to be in , second only to New York City.
They will learn that Katrina was not the first Hurricane to wreak havoc on the Gulf Coast, and they may be driven to mourn the loss of our Texas ancestors and the stolen possibilities that Galveston promised. This novel is a skillful weaving of fiction and fact that certainly saddened my soul. Jun 21, Becky rated it it was amazing Shelves: I read this historical fiction book about the September 8, Galveston, TX flood in 24 hours. It was really compelling and well written. I felt like I was there with the main character as he moved to Galveston, TX, experienced the hurricane and flooding, and began to rebuild the town.
It really captured the history and gave you a glimpse of what hurricane survivors may have experience. Historians say 12, people died in this storm while the records state only 5,, but there is no way of r I read this historical fiction book about the September 8, Galveston, TX flood in 24 hours. Historians say 12, people died in this storm while the records state only 5,, but there is no way of really knowing because so many perished. Imagine that many people, homes, animals, and lives just washed away in one day.
She did a great job and this book is appealing to both boys and girls and adults like me. Feb 11, Christina rated it really liked it Recommends it for: If you thought Hurricane Katrina was bad, read this book to find out what it's like to be in a devastating fatal hurricane in when there was no warning other than "oh, a storm's coming, not to worry.
He's just met a beautiful blonde girl in his neighborhood, things If you thought Hurricane Katrina was bad, read this book to find out what it's like to be in a devastating fatal hurricane in when there was no warning other than "oh, a storm's coming, not to worry. He's just met a beautiful blonde girl in his neighborhood, things are looking up: Very realistic storm survival scenes, amazing flooding, dead bodies everywhere, suspenseful and gritty and a good coming-of-age story too. Jun 17, Joan Stelter rated it it was amazing Shelves: This may be one of the best if not the best historical fiction book I have read.
Seth lives in Galveston at the time of the hurricane of and tells the story from his point of view. Hale's writing is almost poetical in parts and takes the historical facts from the information of Isaac, the meterologist at that time. You really must read this book! Jul 26, Amy rated it it was amazing. This has been probably my favorite historical fiction book ever! It's about the Galveston Hurricane in , and the destruction and devastation that followed. However, this wasn't a depressing book. It's more heroics, learning how to overcome challenges, and seeing the good in the bad.
May 13, SaraKat rated it really liked it Shelves: This historical fiction stars a family freshly moved to Galveston and going through the huge Galveston hurricane of It is told from the point-of-view of Seth, a year-old who is chafing at his father's insistence that he go to college and become a doctor when all Seth wants to do is become a carpenter like his father. The hurricane hits without much warning and almost the entire town is lost. There is death and carnage and horrifying things as you might expect in a natural disaster book This historical fiction stars a family freshly moved to Galveston and going through the huge Galveston hurricane of There is death and carnage and horrifying things as you might expect in a natural disaster book so be prepared.
I particularly enjoyed the book because it was set near where I live and I've always heard about the great hurricane. It was interesting to learn about it in a fictionalized account. I found it interesting that Seth was so against going to college to learn medicine. Apparently, all teenage characters have to rebel against what their parents want in books for children. But given that most other books I've read in this time period have girls that are fighting to go to college or minorities that are trying to get any opportunities at all, it seems a bit of a let down where teenage angst is concerned.
His dad even says that if he doesn't want to be a doctor, he can go into law or engineering. There is a comical scene where a kitten is mistaken for a rat and tossed around that made me laugh. It is a tough situation to laugh at, but that's life. It was painful to see the poor treatment of the black characters.
Some may say the hurricane was an equalizer, since everyone died no matter what color their skin was, and that was true mostly. While surviving, they all ate together and worked together, but right after, the race issue started right up again. Jun 03, Lynn rated it it was ok. I had trouble figuring out why except that the common belief that Texas drives the American curriculum because it has a state wide curriculum and a large population.
Maybe a common core module surrounding this book was already developed. Since it is mainly about a hurricane hitting a Really slight, not very impressive novel that has ended up on the NYS Common Core Modules for 5th grade. Since it is mainly about a hurricane hitting a city I would have expected more. There is no depth. This is a fictionalized first person account of the Galveston hurricane aka Isaac's storm named after the weatherman Isaac Cline who tried to warn the residents.
The people of Galveston were wll acquainted with the tides and storms that occasionally over-washed their island; the were occasions to party while children swam and played in the streets. The book follows the fictional character 16yr old Seth Braeden, eldest of five children, who has just moved to the island the week before with This is a fictionalized first person account of the Galveston hurricane aka Isaac's storm named after the weatherman Isaac Cline who tried to warn the residents. The book follows the fictional character 16yr old Seth Braeden, eldest of five children, who has just moved to the island the week before with his family.
Seth's father has acted on his uncle Nate Braeden's advice and come to re-establish his carpentry business in the booming town. Normally I don't like first person stories, but it works perfectly here as the reader gets to experience the events with Seth. I read this for my Reading Challenge. May 09, Kathie rated it it was ok Shelves: Descriptive account of the epic destruction of the hurricane that hit Galveston at the turn of the century.
I never connected with the characters and didn't feel loss even though the narrator saw loss and had lost family. While I can see this to also be a coming of age novel, the narrator at 16 seemed incredibly immature for that age. This added to the disconnect for this reader. This is a good book for Middle School students. It's a historical fiction account of the great hurricane that hit Galveston before there was a warning system.
The book is a quick read, and you are drawn in to the events after the hurricane and the resiliency of Galvestonians to rebuild their lives and city. Oct 04, Anna Kotaska rated it it was ok. I really wish that she used more detail. I mean, why doesn't the father want his son to be a carpenter just like him? Wouldn't he like that his son looks up to him. And honestly, a little to rough for kids.
I got the newer addition and it is of a boy carrying a young girl though water while hunching over in a dark sad town.