Promotional Information

Natalie Jane Prior is the author of many children's books, including "Lily Quench & the Dragon of Ashby" (a 2000 CBC Notable Book), "Lily Quench and the Black Mountains", "Lily Quench and the Treasure of Mote Ely" (shortlisted for the 2003 Aurealis Award for Excellence in Fiction: Children's Novel), the "Ubiquitous Things" series, "The Paw", "The Paw in the Purple Diamond", "Bog Bodies", "The Amazing Adventures of Amabel", "Amabel Abroad", "Tascha's Witch", "Dance Crazy", "West End Shuffle" and "The Loft", as well as the non-fiction title "The Encyclopedia of Preserved People".

Reviews

Gr 3-5-Lily Quench returns to continue her work for the kingdom of Ashby. In Skellig Mor, she must find a way to close the recently rediscovered Eye Stones-magical gateways that allow travel across distances and through time-so that Gordon the Black Count and his armies cannot use them to begin their attack. The intrepid young heroine and her faithful companion, Queen Dragon, journey to the legendary Library of Skellig Lir hoping for a solution spell, but instead are faced with danger. In Mote Ely, Lily is kidnapped and taken back in time, where Gordon keeps her prisoner while he plots to invade Ashby. Trapped in a watery dungeon, Lily hopes for rescue from her friends, but fears that they may be too late to save her. A delightful mix of moxie, quirky common sense, and ordinary girl, Lily is a likable champion who can be afraid as well as brave. While many of the subsidiary characters are shallow and some of the plot elements slightly improbable, the charmingly precise writing and scenes of high adventure will please readers. Despite the challenging vocabulary, youngsters will stick with these titles. Black-and-white line drawings highlight the action. Devotees of Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi's "Spiderwick Chronicles" (S & S) or Mary Stanton's "Unicorns of Balinor" series (Scholastic) will eagerly await the next installment.-Caitlin Augusta, The Darien Library, CT Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.