The Beast of Noor

by Janet Lee Carey

Overview

Do not wander in the deeps where the Shriker's shadow creeps.
When he rises from beneath. Beware the sharpness of his teeth.

For over 300 years, a monster known as the Shriker has roamed Shalem Wood, terrorizing the villagers who live on its edges and slaughtering those unfortunate enough to wander on to his path. The people of Noor have lived in fear for so long that most of them have forgotten that once upon a time the Shriker was just a loyal dog, until the day when he was cruelly betrayed by his master and cursed to live a bloodthirsty life, always seeking revenge for the fate his owner dealt him. But Miles and Hanna Ferrell have not forgotten where the Shriker came from—how could they? It was their ancestor who betrayed the dog...

A tale of terror and magic that channels Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Beast of Noor tells the story of two siblings determined to set their family free and break the curse of the Shriker or die trying.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689876448
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	07/01/2006
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.60(d)
Lexile:	720L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

JANET LEE CAREY grew up in Marin County California surrounded by whispering redwoods. Sunlight cut through ocean mist and fingered through the branches. It was in this magical place that she first dreamed of writing books. Her award-winning teen fantasy novels are translated into many languages. Some include: The Dragons of Noor, which won a Teens Read Too Gold Star Award for Excellence, Stealing Death, which received a School Library Journal starred review, Dragon’s Keep, an ALA Best Books for Young Adults, and Wenny Has Wings, a Mark Twain Award recipient and a Sony Feature Film Japan, 2008. Janet lives with her family, dusty book stacks, and imperious cat near Phantom Lake in Washington. Visit Janet online at www.janetleecarey.com.

Read an Excerpt

The Beast of Noor

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By Janet Lee Carey

Atheneum

Copyright © 2006 Janet Lee Carey
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0689876440

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Chapter One: Lost Polly

Do not wander in the deeps, where the Shriker's shadow creeps. When he rises from beneath, beware the sharpness of his teeth.

-- A saying on Enness Isle

The full moon darkened over as Polly crept through the trees. A sound had drawn her into Shalem Wood. A call so low and sweet it made her forget her sorrow over her lover, Tarn, who'd drowned at sea.

She stepped in rhythm to the call that filled her body and sang down to her bones. It was beautiful. So rich and deep. Who was the singer? Where was the song? Her heart beat in time with it. The green trees swayed with it. All dancing, dancing.

Polly began to spin, reeling round and round to the sweet, dark sound. She tripped on a root. Fell. Cried out. The sudden, sharp pain in her leg awakened her from her trance. She'd cut her knee and torn her sleeve in the blackberry hedge when she fell. Inching her way back to the trail, she came to a stand and looked about. She'd come into the woods alone at night, and in her sleeping gown! How had she gotten here?

It had been a full-moon night when she bedded down in Brim village, by the sea. Now the moon had eclipsed, and all was deep in shadow. Nothing but pale starlight to guideher.

Polly twisted the shell bracelet on her wrist. Think. She had to think. Taking a deep breath, she turned about. She'd retrace her steps, find the mountain road that led back to town. Aye, she could do that; she'd walked these woods by day before and knew her way well enough. Polly headed down the winding trail, never mind her sore knee.

An owl hooted from the pine branch above. Polly sped up her pace. There was a tale Gran used to tell years ago about a beast that haunted the forest on dark-moon nights like this. But it was just a story told to frighten little children and keep them out of Shalem Wood.

"Just a story," whispered Polly over and over as she walked. Branches waved in the wind. Leaves trembled in the thornbushes. The broad-limbed oaks and pines creaked above like black-boned giants.

Halfway down the trail Polly stopped, heart pounding. This was the way back, wasn't it?

That call again. Her chest tightened. It was that call that had drawn her into Shalem Wood. Some kind of spell. It must be, for it didn't sound so lovely now. It sounded more like a wolf's howl. One wolf or many or... Polly took off running. She had to reach the road. It couldn't be far. But which way? It was so dark in the forest with the moon gone.

She fled through the bracken, gulping down the chill night air.

The baying sound came again. A wolf, surely, but it must be more than one; no single wolf could have such a monstrous howl. Polly rushed right, then left, then right again. She had to find her way out!

The sound of paws against the earth behind her. Fast. Faster. The beast was gaining. The pounding paws were too loud to come from a wolf. Not a wolf. Something bigger than a wolf.

The thing was bounding closer. Paw to earth. Paw to earth. Pounding. Pounding. She ran fast, faster.

The beast pounced.

Miles awakened with a fright. Someone had screamed. He leaped off his cot and stood in his stocking feet, trembling, listening.

The scream was real, wasn't it? He looked out the window. Outside the full moon was eclipsed. Miles blinked in wonder. He'd never seen an eclipse before. How dark it made the barn, the dirt road. How black it made the trees in Shalem Wood.

Another horrible, high-pitched scream.

Miles started. The first scream had been real. Had his sister, Hanna, gone dreamwalking in the woods again? Was she badly hurt?

Miles tugged on his boots, grabbed his bow and hunting knife, and flung open his door. Halfway down the hall he ran into Da, who was already throwing on his cloak.

"Did you hear that?" asked Da.

"Aye. Where's Hanna?"

"She's in her room. I told her to stay put."

Someone else, then. Who was out there? No time to think -- they were already racing across the dirt road, the torch fires blowing back as they rushed along.

Starlight fell dimly on the treetops. The moon still hid in shadow. It was hard to see very far ahead, even with the torches.

"This way, Da!" They took the broadest trail through the whispering pines.

"Hello!" called Da. "Anyone out there?"

No answer. An owl winged overhead.

Miles splashed across a mountain stream, the cold water soaking into his boots. On the far side he saw something. "Look!" he called. They raced up the grade toward the blackberry bushes, where a bit of torn fabric flailed in the wind. Da held his torch up near enough to see the pattern in the cloth, white cotton stitched with violets.

Miles touched the violets. Small stitches like the ones his sister, Hanna, made.

"What is it?" asked Da.

Miles couldn't tell his da what he knew now, knew down in his bones, though he couldn't say why.

They'd find the girl -- find her too late.

Copyright 2006 by Janet Lee Carey

Continues...

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Excerpted from The Beast of Noor by Janet Lee Carey Copyright © 2006 by Janet Lee Carey. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Chapters

Lost Polly

The Wild Hunt

Lost Brothe

The Falconer's Spell Book

The Seer

The Enoch Tree

Dreamwalk

The Way Opens

Swallowing the Spell

Brother Adolpho's Garden

The Falconer's Warning

Wild Wolf

Covering the Tracks

Spell Song

The Deeps

Falling

Truth Telling

The Argument

The Ties that Bind

Following

The Road that Splits Asunder

Glisten

Bread and Water

Stalking

Two Maps

Torn Cloak

Hunting

The Old Men of Mount Shalem

Wild Esper

Epitt the Spy

Prey

The Queen's Secret

Captive

Leaving

Hag Wind

The Crossing Over

Visitors from Afar

The Feather Quill

The Wind Wall

The Cliff

Essha, Hannalyn

Wise Root

Aetwan's Gift

The Dark Lands

Arrows

The Hound King

Beast Tracks

Stolen

Darkwood Troll

The King's Realm

The Eye of the Heart

The Parcel

Azure Root

Escape Plan

The Gullmuth Pit

The Trap

Brown Eyes

The Darro's Curse

The Dog

Uthor's Edge

The Serpent and the Moon

The Queen's Courtyard

To High Cliff and Home

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-8-Miles and Hanna Ferrell live near Shalem Wood where a beast known as the Shriker has been attacking villagers for 300 years. Everyone knows his story-he was once a faithful dog betrayed by his owner, given to an evil master (another Ferrell), and cursed to kill at the time of the dark moon. Miles is determined to break the curse and win the admiration of the town. It doesn't take long for him to get in over his head, and meek, quiet Hanna has to overcome her shyness if she is to save him. Or, will the siblings just become two more of the beast's victims? The story has plenty of intrigue and danger, and the characters are realistically drawn. While well written, the plot is just a tad predictable, which, in fact, adds to its charm as the novel reads almost like a fairy tale, with the same rhythms and the same etiquette. Recommend it to lovers of (very mild) horror and suspense or to those who enjoy old-fashioned fairy tales. All in all, a fun read.-Saleena L. Davidson, South Brunswick Public Library, Monmouth Junction, NJ Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

A creature called the Shriker has lured helpless victims to their gruesome deaths in Shalem Wood for centuries. Miles and Hanna Ferrell learn that it was their own ancestor who was responsible for the creation of the beast and his anger and taste for blood. When their friend becomes the most recent victim, Miles is determined to kill the beast and right the wrong, before his sister is taken next. It isn't long before Hanna goes in search of her missing brother, to save him from becoming the very beast he has set out to destroy. Moving between parallel dimensions, leaving behind their friends and family, these two youngsters must prove themselves capable of surviving danger, making the right choices and always staying true to their inner selves and to each other. An engaging tale, with just the right touch of terror to make a good story, it thankfully avoids devolving into an unnecessarily gruesome gore-fest. A hefty but not tiresome read, this will leave the reader anxious to turn just a few more pages before turning out the light. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews