I found the book useful, though there is no substitute for reading the books. For those who have already read the Chronicles it gives some interesting facts. I have loved the Chronicles from an early age and I would hope that the Companion to Narnia is useful to all friends of Narnia.

I received Companion to Narnia, as well as a boxed set of the Chronicles themselves, as a birthday gift. I must say it was one of the best gifts I have ever received.

I initially read the Chronicles as a young child, then again in Jr. High. I'm afraid I let my passion for the stories slip through my high school years, just when I needed them most, but now, after my third year of college, I have renewed my interest in the works of Mr. Lewis.

The Companion is easy to use, extremely informative, and actually fun to read straight through, even without using it as a reference. The entries are encyclopedia-style, alphabetically listed, with the page numbers the entry appears on in the Chronicles, related entries, and often very extensive footnotes referring the reader to books and articles by Mr. Lewis and other renowned Fanstasy and Religious authors, as well as background into what specific uses could have meant to the author, or his inspirations for them.

There are annexes at the end on everything to how old the Pevensie children and others are in the books, Narnia time vs Earth time, the age of Lewis during the writing of the Chronicles, maps of Narnia and more. Wonderful illustrations are distributed throughout the book, just waiting to surprise you when you turn the page.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book to any lover of Narnia, whether it's your first time around or your fortieth. A lot of questions I remember having when I was younger are answered, and you gain a deeper meaning of what it "behind everyone's story".

If you think that the Chronicles of Narnia ought to be required reading for children, then the Companion to Narnia ought to be required reading for us adults that fell in love with Narnia as children. Yes, I'm sure that if you had to write a paper or do a report on any of the Chronicles for school, this book would be invaluable. But the fact is, it goes far beyond that to a much broader audience...

C.S. Lewis's Chronicles represent some of the finest high-Fantasy novels ever written, period. But for most of us, at least at the first reading, this is all they were. As we grow older, and read the Chronicles again and again, we begin to discover more of the meaning behind the writing; this book guides you further along that path of discovery. It is well-organized and very thorough; I have had little difficulty finding any of the references I wanted to explore.

If you want a person to love the Chronicles, buy the series for them when they are a child. If you want them to appreciate it the way you do, buy them the Companion when they grow a bit older...

Arnold's book begins: "Are you afraid of dying? Have you ever worried about growing old, about becoming a burden to your children? Do you wonder how you would survive the loss of your spouse, a parent, a child? Is someone you love facing illness or death? Whether consciously or subconciously, every person inevitably faces these questions at one point or another. It is in search of answers to them that I have written this book."

Arnold searches for these answers in the stories of ordinary people he's known who have faced death. He tells each story well in that he doesn't over dramatize the circumstances or struggle to justify God's ways. Instead, he lets each life speak for itself and allows that death is a great mystery indeed.

After losing my father, I read several books about pain, loss, grieving, and death. I enjoyed this work because it featured many perspectives, allowing that death is very much an individual experience, shaped by upbringing and personality. It was instructive and comforting to read about how other Christians have faced tragedy and illness. I also like the way he included photographs of the people because it made me feel closer to them.

This is a quiet little book that you can read in a few sittings or savor bit by bit. It will leave you pondering life, death, and God's plan for creation. I appreciate Arnold's perspective because his sadness is tempered by his knowledge that the universe is ruled by a loving and merciful God who has not left death as the final word.

Sometimes it is hard to know what words to say when a friend is suddenly facing terminal illness or the loss of a loved one. A gift of this book is one way of saying 'I care'. We will all face tough things in life and eventually the end of our life, the stories in this book are about ordinary people who faced these moments with faith and courage.

I Tell you a Mystery; Life, Death, Eternity" with a foreword by Madeleine L'Engle is the best book that I found on the market dealing with Death, Dying and Bereavement. My family experienced a lot of death and we were hurting. We did not know how to deal with it. It seems like death and bereavement is something no one wants to talk about it. And even when one looses a beloved one like a parent or brother and sister one is expected in our Society to act normal within a few days. This all changed when we got a copy of "I Tell you a Mystery." The stories contained in this book everyone and anyone young and old can have real empathy with. I highly recommend this book to all ages. Even little children just love to read the stories which this book contains. Paul and Betty Winter

Before I read this book, I was already a great fan of Madeline L'Engle's work. However, And Both Were Young confirmed my admiration for her as a person and left me once again in awe at her amazing abilities as a writer! Though the book was originally written quite some time ago in L'Engle's youth, it holds more feelings and displays more emotion and wit than thousands of novels that have been written later in the author's life.
First introduced is Phillipa Hunter, or Flip, a teenage girl who is struggling with life after the death of her mother and the new lady friend of her father, Eunice. Wishing to follow in the steps of her father to become an artist, Flip is devastated when she learns that her father is going to China to sketch without her. Eunice then sends Flip to boarding school in Switzerland while she and Flip's father tour China. Recognizably different from the other students at the school, she is automatically excluded and spends most of her time in solitude, until she happens to stumble upon an ancient chateau. Inside the chateau she meets Paul, a young boy, not unlike herself, searching for answers amidst a past of brokenness and carefully shrouded mystery. As their friendship grows into love, each learns from the other, and Flip's heart finally begins to heal after a year of loneliness and mourning for her mother. However, Paul's wound is not so easily healed. As Flip finds her niche in the school's society and some friends of her own, she now has to help Paul recover his past and face the many fears it encompasses. As new acquaintances come into Flip's life, she learns how to be true to herself and to others.
The journey of this girl into womanhood is heartfelt and well written in my opinion. I have read this book nearly three times now, and I know I will read its pages many more times still. Flip is a character we can all relate to, and many of her insecurities are our insecurities. This is an excellent book for teenagers who are thirsting for romance, struggling to find themselves, or simply avid book readers, such as myself. Once again, Madeline L'Engle displays her magnificent ability to reach into the hearts of all of us and put down into words what the rest of us are struggling to comprehend. I guarantee this book will move your heart and enlighten your mind!

As an avid fan of Ms. L'Engle, I have read and re-read many of her titles. This one is a particular favorite. I especially recommend this book to any pre-teen/teen girl who is having trouble finding a place to fit in the world. Flip is a character you will care deeply about as she struggles to adjust to life at a Swiss boarding school after the death of her mother. She finds friendship in the school's art teacher, Madame Perceval and Paul, a boy without a past or identity. Experiences with these memorable characters teach her that she can be happy if she puts forth the effort. I just finished it for the third time and it remains high on my list.

Phillippa (Flip) Hunter has to go to boarding school in Switzerland. It's not as if she wants to, she's being forced to go because her father will be away on trips in China all year with the awful Eunice (who consequently is not that awful.)Flip believes that Eunice is trying to replace her mother, who died the previous year in a car crash, and as such completely dislikes her. Since Flip is being sent to boarding school without her own consent, it is quite normal that she despises it. She never knows how to reply to the girls, she can barely participate in gym due to her stiff knee, and some of the girls find her quite strange. One thing that consoles her is a French boy named Paul who has seemed to have an awful past that he can't remember. (Paul was in concentration camps when he was younger; the book takes place a few years after World War 2.) Flip helps Paul overcome his past, and learn to live in the present. Another person who really helped Flip in the beginning of the book was Madame Perceval, the art teacher. Madame Perceval was quite understanding of Flip. Flip was an excelling student in art, and as such she was planning to become an artist like her father. Throughout the book, Flip grew and matured while helping everyone around her, and realized that she didn't need somebody else to instill faith into her, as she could find it on her own.

After reading Madeleine L'Engle's Camilla, I just had to find out what had become of her. A Live Coal in the Sea introduces new characters and reunites us with old friends. Written in the style of A House Like a Lotus, with flashbacks every few pages, the reader will never be confused about the time. The main character is Camilla Dickinson, who is happy until her granddaughter, Raffi, comes to her home asking "Are you or aren't you my grandmother?" Camilla is forced to deal with something that happened long ago. So she tells the story of her life, beginning at her senior year of college, when she met her husband which all lead up to the discovery of Raffi's father Taxi's parentage. There is a surprise twist at the end of the book. Ms. L'Engle deals with complicated issues in a subtle way. This book should be read by more mature readers, but everyone will learn something from it.

One of my favorite things about Madeleine L'Engle's work is that she shares her own life with her readers. At first glance a fictional story dealing with four generations working through their own dysfunction and pain to find healing and mercy, and perhaps even a sort of peace, would not seem to have a lot of similarity to L'Engle's own life, or at least one would hope not. The similarities I find are subtler. L'Engle is Episcopalian. Her main character's husband works in an Episcopalian church. L'Engle's husband Hugh was an actor who played on a soap opera for many years, as is Taxi Xanthakos, another character from the book. As she shares pieces of herself in numerous details such as these, L'Engle adds authenticity to her tale.
The story itself takes many unexpected twists and turns as it progresses. These twists and turns, along with L'Engle's attention to detail that I mentioned earlier, invite the reader to not just take the story at face value, but to read it for the broader underlying theme-mercy. Each of her characters must give and receive mercy at one time or another, some more than others. Although I have had none of the experiences of the characters in this book, I found myself able to identify with their plight as they struggled with mercy and forgiveness. The plot of the story so drew me in though that I was about halfway through the book before I really understood why I was identifying with them. We all need to give and receive mercy countless times throughout our lives.

If you want to read an absorbing, moving and surprising story that you could read over and over again, reach for Madeleine L'Engle's "A Live Coal in the Sea." L'Engle is one of this century's greatest living writers. She always writes about meaningful and varied topics, and this novel is full of them. The story is shocking at times, and yes, there are sexual themes that are deeply disturbing, but this is an INCREDIBLY WELL-WRITTEN book. As a college graduate from the University of California in English and American literature, I have read plenty of books. I truly feel that writing doesn't get much better than this. L'Engle creates characters who are realistic and who have profound concepts to teach yet are fallible people. The protagonists within the story are amazing role models who inspire and disappoint us. "A Live Coal in the Sea" is a sequel to L'Engle's novel "Camilla" and it just makes the experience richer if you've read that before reading this one, but not crucial. I have to laugh after reading the other reviews here that pick apart small "flaws" within this story - YOU try writing something like this and then we'll talk! I think that all novels, whether they are written by Charles Dickens or by Jackie Collins, have something to pick apart if you are looking for that. If you want a story that will affect you and you want to read one of the most magnificent writers of our time, choose "A Live Coal in the Sea." I have read over 2/3 of L'Engles books (she has written many!!!) and besides "A Ring of Endless Light" and "A Wrinkle in Time" it is one of the best of her books. Whether or not you're L'Engle fan, you will most likely become one after reading this tale of true mercy, growth, and love.

Any person of a spiritual bent who is interested in writing would benefit greatly by reading this book. Not purporting to be a full course in "creative writing", these short one- and two-page excerpts from lectures and other works are inspirational to the budding author. L'Engle is a strong believer in the power of story, in allowing the characters in the story to take the author to unexpected places, in "serving the work", and in the belief that there is no difference in writing for children or adults. Biblical inerrantists may stumble a little at her theology (she seems to be somewhat neo-orthodox), but that should not hinder the creative Christian and non-Christian alike from gleaning much wisdom from this book.

As a writer, I am challenged and encouraged by L'Engle's storytelling. She evokes emotion and images, fantasy and reality...all with a seeming effortlessness.

In "Reflections on a Writing Life," we see into the heart and mind of this incredible woman. We discover the amount of work that goes into her writing, and, along the way, we realize that this 'work' is really a process of letting go.

Each section can be read in a minute and mulled over for days. This is deep and rich food for thought. Artists and creative people of all sorts can find enrichment in L'Engle's shared wisdom. I recommend heartily this mine of daily gold.

The compiler (a fine writer herself), Carole F. Chase, knows Madeleine's work like no other. The reading selections collected and brilliantly edited here will inspire and motivate anyone who writes. Besides her own substantial corpus of work (more than 40 books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction), L'Engle is widely known for her writing seminars and workshops -- she has lived the writer's life for more than 60 years; always working to 'serve her gift'. But, she has also laboured long and hard to help others serve their gifts as fruitfully. Chase, L'Engle's best biographer, met the famous author years ago and knows her teaching on writing well. The selections which make up this great book come from many unpublished sources and constitute the best of L'Engle's teaching/coaching/mentoring on good writing and the writer's life. I have shared this book with several of my writing friends and have yet to encounter a less than enthusiastic response. My five-star assessment comes from rigid standards and sober contemplation. Quite simply, the book EARNS it. Besides Julia Cameron's THE ARTIST'S WAY, and Rilke's LETTERS TO A POET, this is the most significant writing book on my shelves.

Katherine's life mirrors my own in some ways, with failed teenage romances, friends like Sarah who suddenly change their characters and are no longer your friend and the search for happiness through one's talent (in her case, music, in my case, writing). I appreciated reading about these things because it made me feel like my experiences were more normal than I had believed and I felt less isolated by them.

I was also glad I didn't have to wait 37 years for the sequel to this book (according to the introduction to The Small Rain, that's how long it took L'Engle before she felt she could write about Katherine again). L'Engle leaves us hanging at the end of The Small Rain, wondering what will happen to Katherine next. And what does happen to her in A Severed Wasp is shocking and exciting. If you read The Small Rain, you have to read A Severed Wasp.

I had only two disapointments with The Small Rain. I thought Katherine drank way too much at times. But perhaps I see it that way as I'm looking at it from a North American perspective. Under-age drinking is much less taboo in Europe. Nonetheless, I felt it cheapened her character to have her drink so much.

The other thing I didn't like was L'Engle's view of homosexuality in The Small Rain. There is a description of a lesbian in The Small Rain that is no less than disturbing and inaccurate. I thought Katherine and Sarah's suspected lesbian relationship was well-handled but L'Engle destroyed any valid point she was trying to make with that scene with the later description of the lesbian.

I've often wondered if L'Engle has used her novels to overcome her own feelings of homophobia. In the sequel to The Small Rain, A Severed Wasp, Katherine shows that she is no longer homophobic. I think that L'Engle is using Katherine to show her own progression of feelings on this issue. This can also be seen in A House Like a Lotus and A Live Coal in the Sea, where characters overcome their homophobia and we see gay couples in loving relationships.

Reading this book made me feel real. The depth that L'Engle creates with Katherine overwhelms the reader, and brings you into it. It was so realistic and I felt like I had so much in common with Katherine. It's hard to put into words exactly how wonderful this book really is. The emotions I felt as I read it are undescribable. But anytime I read L'Engle she puts my life back into perspective. She makes me feel like everything will be alright again. I really recommend this book to anyone who feels confused and like the world just keeps spinning around them and they still don't get it. And anyone who gets angry at God sometimes when life doesn't make sense. It's consoling and reassuring. Anyway, I loved it.

There really is no plot to this book. Readers who are fans of Ms. L'Engle's youth fiction, like me, should exercise some caution before reading this book. Upon opening the pages, you will not escape into worlds of fantasy where your imagination is challenged with every word. Here, a more realistic story is presented. It is one of Madeleine L'Engle's "adult" books, and it is quite good, if you approach it with the right mindset. The story centers around Katherine Forrester, who has lived her entire life surrounded by artists. Now, these are not necessarily artists in the sense that Monet or Picasso was an artist; they are artistic in the "arts"- music, acting, etc. Of course, artists live in a world that most of us left-brained people cannot quite understand. This novel excellently depicts the life that true artists live. We are given unique insight into Katherine's soul, something rarely found in today's literature. Most times, characterization is ignored for a riveting plot. Katherine Forrester stirs up remembrances of Jane Austen heroines- the girls you actually knew and understood. Katherine is a fabulously flawed character that I completely loved. I felt after I read this book that I had made a new friend and discovered a new world. The book made me think. It's about time I could say that again.

Madeleine L'Engle brings us yet another thought provoking book. She reunites us with characters from her beloved time trilogy. Meg and Calvin's oldest daughter, Polly, is on an educational trip to Greece and Cyprus. Once she is there, she starts to relive her recent troubling past. One year before she arrives in Greece, Polly meets Maxa, an intelligent and wise elderly woman. Polly idolizes Maxa, because Maxa helps Polly to overcome her troubles. One day, a drunken Maxa makes the mistake of hurting Polly, and she discovers the startling truth that Maxa is only human. Will Polly learn to forgive Maxa? The novel has many controversial issues in it, and should not be in the young adult section. But the book still shows the meaning of trust, love and honesty.

Be warned that this review contains serious spoilers.

Madeleine L'Engle is, of course, best known for her book "A Wrinkle in Time" and the four books following which chronicle the adventures of Meg and Charles, and Meg's future husband Calvin. They are fantastical tales of travel at the speed of thought, alien worlds, monstrous evils to be fought, and the power of love in all its forms.

Madeleine L'Engle has a deeper range than young adult science fiction. Even knowing this, however, it was a shock to read "A House Like a Lotus". It has the love of the Time Quartet books, but there is no tessering. There are no alien worlds to explore, and no monstrous evils. To see Meg and Calvin coping with a brood of seven children, and their eldest daughter, Polyhymnia (Polly), dealing with a straight story about love, betrayal and forgiveness makes it feel like you're reading from a different author. It is a compelling expansion upon Meg and Calvin's characters, and Polly carries the story in the first person with considerable grace, as she first befriends, and then flees from, a dying woman named Maxa. It's brilliant, but it still takes some getting used to.

The story is written with, in my opinion, a much older audience in mind than "A Wrinkle in Time". The Time Quartet is ageless, but "A House Like a Lotus" deals frankly with sexual issues, including homosexuality and Polly's first sexual experience (heterosexual). I would not recommend this book to anybody under the age of fourteen, but to any other fan of L'Engle's work, this book is a must read.

As you can see from other reviews, Madeleine L'Engle takes it between the eyes for her controversial subject matter. Some more liberal than her might say that she has demonized homosexuality through Maxa's drunken advances on Polly. On the other hand, others more conservative than Madeleine will not appreciate the fact that sixteen-year-old Polly has sex outside of marriage once (and isn't the least bit unhappy about it) and is perfectly open to having it again with someone else. The scene where Polly loses her virginity is touchingly and tastefully handled. There is too much love going on in this scene for me to believe that a sin is being committed.

Personally, I did not think Madeleine demonized homosexuality through Maxa's portrayal in this book. Maxa is portrayed as a brilliant but hurt individual, who is dying, suffering, and deeply afraid. Much is made early on in the story that Maxa and her live-in partner Ursula might be lesbians, but Meg and Calvin make it quite clear that they believe that what goes on between two consenting adults in private is their own business. They refuse to pass judgement, and I agree with that.

On the other hand, Maxa's advances on Polly were made when Maxa was drunk, hurting more than ever, and more afraid than ever about her oncoming death. She does hurt Polly (this is the focus of the book), but she realizes almost right away that what she has done was very wrong, but only as it relates to itself. Homosexuality is not the defining factor in this shocking and key scene of the book. If Maxa had been a man, the scene would have had as much, if not more power.

"A House Like a Lotus" is a book about trust and love, and how, by just being the humans we are, we sometimes don't live up to other people's trust. And how we must forgive ourselves and the others who betray us, for our human foibles. In this regard, "A House Like a Lotus" carries more power than the entire Time Quartet combined.

This book is my favourite out of the Murry series. The other books in this series are A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, Many Waters, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, The Arm of the Starfish, Dragons in the Waters, and An Acceptable Time. A House Like a Lotus is probably also my favourite Madeleine L'Engle fiction book. I was especially impressed with the sensitive, compassionate treatment of a painful and controversial issue which this book offers. Polly is one of Madeleine L'Engle's deepest and most complex characters- I would love to know what she ends up doing when she grows up!

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of L'Engle's adult fiction, but I was bored to tears by this book. The plot was interesting on a purely intellecual level, and I give her credit for coming up with something orginal, but to me it read more like a study of the many wives of King David than a novel that I could relate to in any way. I felt nothing for any of the characters, and ended up having to put the book down due to extreme apathy. Perhaps there was some kind of epiphany the was waiting for me in the last half of the book, but I wouldn't bet on it. Her two novels about the life of the young woman whose mother was a famous musician were excellent, if you haven't read any of L'Engle's older ficiton I would start there.

L'Engle's story will draw you into warm, rich but complicated family relationships, as Emma, the main character tells the stories in a lyrical way. Emma tells of her father, a well-known actor, David Wheaton, whose life is oftentimes compared to the other famous David ~~ King David of the Biblical times. David Wheaton has as many if not less wives and 11 children. Emma narrates the stories as the one child who has always remained close to her father. It is also a wonderful and encompassing story about love and forgiveness as David nears the end of his life.

Emma's husband struggles with writing a play for David Wheaton ~~ he would have played the great Hebrew king ~~ and interspersed throughout the narration are the stories of David's wives. Despite what some critics have said about this book, it is a rich read. I don't mind reading about Biblical times ~~ in fact, I love it. I find it fascinating. And L'Engle does a wonderful job giving King David's wives a voice throughout the ages and in a way the reader can understand. And reading about David Wheaton's wives, Emma's grandparents who have provided her with a heritage of rich spiritual lives, and the acceptance of life and death at the end.

It is a book I highly recommend for daughters who enjoy a close relationship with their fathers ~~ as it does explore a man's regrets that he didn't live a better life for his children or make the time for them ~~ but Emma forgives him anyways because that is who he is.

If you have a few days to spare, pick this book up. Go off into a quiet place and read it. You will fall in love with the lyrical writing style if not with the characters. It is definitely one of my top 100 favorite books to read. It's well worth the time reading.

_Certain Women_ and _A Severed Wasp_ are two of Ms. L'Engle's adult fiction books that capture the lives of born-artistic, talented souls... whether they are musicians, actors, writers, artists, etc. It helps me to understand that, even though I have some musical talent (more, perhaps than many), I do not have a musician's soul, because I do not have that hunger to create... to pursue this gift to its utmost. Ms. L'Engle's writing is wonderfully clear and descriptive... even the most horrific scenes were deftly, simply written, capturing the moment without yielding to the sordid. Also amazing is the retelling of the King David story, but from the women's point of view; I learned more about King David in this book than I *ever* learned in Sunday School!

Just recently I finished the book, Camilla, by Madeleine L'Engle and although the topic of the story is a rather common one, I do have to admit that I simply could not put the book down at night-time, my usual reading hour. I remember it being two or three in the morning and I still had my eyes glued to each page. I know that, excepting a few others, I read most books quite slowly, trying to keep up with the story and making sure that I know what's going on, but with this one, I felt much different. I read faster than I thought that I ever could, so embraced in the story. I felt that if I put it down too soon, I would miss some of the best parts, but I soon found myself thinking, "Well, something new and exciting happens on every page, so if I put the book down too soon, I'm always guaranteed to miss something extraordinarily interesting." I soon found myself missing valuable hours of sleep simply to read this wonderful tale. I would highly recommend this story to any teenage girl or boy, mother, father, child, or others. I give this story 3 stars because of its unoriginal subject, but I can sure make an exception to read this exhilerating novel.

I loved this book! I really felt that the main characters were real people and I could understand how they were feeling really well. I also thought that the author captured teenagers' feelings very well especially since she is an older author. The romance was also very nice and not sappy with no excessive hugging or kissing.One of my favorite things about the book was that the two main characters had wonderful meaningful conversations about the world and death. They were conversations that really made you think. I have to admit however that the ending was rather disappointing because I got really into the book and then it just kind of ended. The sequel, "A Live Coal Under the Sea," is pretty good too but is actually an adult book that I would suggest for people 13/14 or older. Even though the ending is kind of weak, I suggest that you read "Camilla" by Madeleine L'Engle!

I've read "Camilla" during different stages in my life and have found new meaning in the novel each time. I have always loved the book for its rich imagery and descriptions of everything from New York's Central Park to a piano concerto by Prokofiev. I also love it for its strong protagonist, Camilla Dickinson, who can seem unbelievably perfect for a teenage girl. After all, she isn't just intelligent and sensitive, but she also has a sense of the cosmic and the beautiful. For instance, she reads the classics not because she is forced to at school but because she likes reading them.

Another thing fascinating about the book is that each character has his or her own take on what Life is. These philosophies are great to take apart when analyzing each character's motivations. Madeleine L'Engle is good at writing books with many different characters because she can give each one a different take on Life (as she does here), on Death ("A Ring of Endless Light"), on Love ("A House Like a Lotus"), and on Existence and the Universe (any book in the Time Quartet).

The plot is basically about how a young girl, in the course of a few weeks, becomes a young woman. The story is deeper and richer than that description, however. What makes "Camilla" stand out among other bildungsroman stories for young people is the fact that its protagonist's "growing pains" are less troubling and awful than usual, not because the author gave her a break, but because she had learned to cushion her fall into adulthood with a strong faith in the beauty and goodness in the Universe. If I could compare Camilla Dickinson to any other person, real-life or fictional, I would pick Anne Frank.

Adam is a young college student who has been chosen to assist the famous Doctor O'Keefe in his experiments off the coast of Portugal. En route, Adam meets the enigmatic Kali who warns him about the doctor. He's bewildered by this odd girl, and soon finds himself an unwitting pawn in a dangerous game. Adam has to figure things out for himself and place his loyalty wisely because of the sinister events in which he finds himself entangled. "The Arm of the Starfish" is a great thriller that gets especially compelling towards the end.

I have been a fan of the Time Quartet by Madleleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, Many Waters, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet) for a long time, so I was of course very excited to delve into this world again.

It tells the story of Adam, a marine biology student who is offered a summer job on the island of Gaea, which is off the coast of Portugal. There, a scientist named Dr. O'Keefe is conducting revolutionary experminents concerning starfish. On his way to Gaea, Adam encounteres many strange people and events. He is caught between two groups of people, and he doesn't know who to trust.

I loved this book. The plots twists are very interesting, as are the characters. I fell in love with Joshua from the moment I met him. I wondered if Kali really was one of the bad guys. I joined Adam as he tried to figure out what to do, who to trust.

This book is not quite like the Time Quartet, but is wonderful nonetheless. It kept my attention constantly; I couldn't put it down. I recommend it to everyone!

This book absolutely, catches your imagination. As Adam Eddington makes his way to the island Gaea he finds that he is caught inbetween a decision that could change his life forever.
Calvin O'Keefe (Dr.O'Keefe) who is introduced and plays a main role in A Wrinkle in Time and the time quartet is grown up and married to Meg. They have seven children and the oldest of all of them, Poly, befriends Adam. Adam has come to Gaea to work as a lab assistent for Dr.O'Keefe during the summer. But when his flight is postponed due to fog he meets Kali Cutter(a most unlikly relationship between the two of them starts) but Kali has her own reasons why Adam shouldn't go to Gaea. Throughout the story Adam finds that he needs to decide between Kali and Poly's sides. He chooses Poly once he finds that Kali's side wants the results of Dr.O'Keefe's tests only to make more money. In the middle of the story Adam has come closer to the O'keefe family and their friends. But by the end tears are brought to your eyes as you read through the sadest moments in the book. If you ask me, read the book and find out what i mean. Until next time.-Windrider3