Under the Green Hill

Gr 5—8—When a life-claiming illness sweeps across the United States, college professors Tom and Glynnis Morgan send their children to England to stay with elderly relatives they have never met. Rowan, Meg, Priscilla, and James are accompanied by malicious Finn Fachan and timid Dickie Rhys, sons of other professors. When great-great-aunt Phyllida Ash gives her six guests a list of rules the first evening (stay out of the forest, never accept food from outside the Rookery, do not tell strangers your names), they view her warnings as old superstitions. However, these admonitions have a practical basis: it is a seventh summer. Phyllida's ancestors have always been the human guardians of the Green Hill, a sacred place to the fairies since the beginning of time, and it is now her job to mediate between the two remaining fairy courts, and to keep the balance between humans and fairies. Despite Phyllida's warnings, the children are drawn into the forest, where they meet the queen of the Seelie Court. Every seventh summer, the Midsummer War must be fought between the two fairy courts if the land is to remain verdant, and tradition holds that each court will choose a human champion who will fight to the death. When the Fairy Queen asks Rowan if he will champion the cause for the Seelie Court, he gladly accepts. Meg must weigh keeping her older brother from what she believes will be certain death against interfering with an age-old practice whose absence could destroy the land. Sullivan draws heavily on her knowledge of Middle English folklore and creates a story rich with memorable characters and evocative language. The ending begs for a sequel in which readers can learn more about the history between the two opposing fairy courts and how the Morgan children fulfill their destinies.—Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA