The Secret of Glendunny: The Haunting

by Kathryn Lasky, James Fouhey (Read by)

Overview

Newbery Honor–winning Kathryn Lasky, author of the bestselling Guardians of Ga’Hoole and Bears of Ice series, delivers a sweeping middle grade animal adventure with loyal beavers, a cultured swan, and ominous lynxes around every turn—a captivating story about heroism, loyalty, and the courage to speak truth to power.

"Draws readers deeply into a mystical world and leaves them wishing for more." —Kirkus (starred review)

“A marvelous adventure…an enchanting introduction to a wonderful, new natural world.” —Booklist (starred review)

Deep in the wilds of Scotland, land of ancient warrior kings and myths, there is a deep secret. The secret is a colony of beavers, a species that is craved for their fur pelts, but vilified for what humans consider to be the destruction of their land. No beaver has been spotted in Scotland or England for over five hundred years, until the young beaver, Dunwattle, is sighted!

Dunwattle’s flight is driven by the presence of a ghostly figure, a figure of a mysterious young girl who is almost one thousand years old. And now Dunwattle is destined to be destroyed for revealing the hidden colony, but his best friend Locksley is determined to save him. Will their ancient beaver colony survive?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798200855094
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/15/2022
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 5.59(h) x 0.63(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kathryn Lasky is a New York Times bestselling author of many acclaimed children’s and young adult books. Her picture book Sugaring Time was awarded a Newbery Honor. She has twice won the National Jewish Book Award, for her novel The Night Journey and her picture book Marven of the Great North Woods. Her book Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor was the most popular book in Scholastic’s bestselling Royal Diaries series. The Guardians of Ga’Hoole was made into the Warner Bros. movie Legend of the Guardians. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband. Visit her online at www.kathrynlasky.com.

James Fouhey is an actor and narrator living in New York City. He received classical training at Boston University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. He has recorded more than forty audiobooks across a variety of genres, including science fiction, romance, young adult fiction, and children’s fiction.

Editorial Reviews

01/31/2022

In this ghostly tale involving interdependent animal species residing around notoriously haunted pond Glendunny, Lasky (Faceless) focuses on a colony of beavers that settled in Scotland, having fled England to avoid the “two-legs,” or humans, who prize them for their pelts. When beaver kit Dunwattle is startled awake by a cued-white two-leg’s ghost, he flees into uncharted waters all the way to England, where he’s seen and photographed by a human, breaking a rule known as vysculf that is punishable by expulsion or death. Dunwattle consults his beaver best friend, Locksley, and trusted swan Elsinore, a royal counselor, who swear to keep his secret. Complicating things are two beavers—one disgruntled and power-hungry, another obsessed with the British monarchy—a bloodthirsty lynx, and two desperate ghosts of humans who died in a massacre a millennium ago and wish to reach heaven. The taut third-person narrative alternates between pond residents, culminating in a gruesome, puzzlingly abrupt ending, but themes of belonging and friendship are well conveyed throughout, as are the complexities of this industrious world of creatures. Ages 8–12. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Book Group. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Intricately plotted and wonderfully realized…There is evil, betrayal, cruelty, loss, compassion, kindness, a touch of humor, and heart-stopping adventure…The carefully constructed fantasy world holds perfectly true.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“It’s a marvelous adventure, and Lasky's gorgeous text has a proper, old-fashioned tone that lends gravity to the fantastical plot. There is an astonishingly detailed mythology, language, and history to the beaver world, and larger, relevant themes of immigration and racism are organically worked in… an enchanting introduction to a wonderful, new natural world.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Themes of belonging and friendship are well conveyed… as are the complexities of this industrious world of creatures.”  — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

It’s a marvelous adventure, and Lasky's gorgeous text has a proper, old-fashioned tone that lends gravity to the fantastical plot. There is an astonishingly detailed mythology, language, and history to the beaver world, and larger, relevant themes of immigration and racism are organically worked in… an enchanting introduction to a wonderful, new natural world.

Booklist (starred review)

★ 2021-12-24
Dunwattle, a young beaver kit, has inadvertently broken the most sacred rule in Glendunny.

During the reign of Henry VIII, all beavers left England to escape being hunted to extinction. They established a thriving civilization in Glendunny, a vast, secret pond hidden in a deep forest in Scotland. To keep Glendunny safe, beavers must never allow themselves to be seen by a two-leg. One morning in the present day, Dunwattle sees the ghostly bones of a two-leg’s skeleton. Terrified, he swims all the way to England, where a living human two-leg sees him and takes a photo. Heading home, he’s determined to keep his terrible secret. There follows an intricately plotted, wonderfully realized adventure involving all the creatures of the pond and, yes, two-legs, alive and dead, each with strong, distinct personalities and backstories as Dunwattle, along with friends Locksley and Yrynn, helps human ghost siblings Lorna and Fergus find their way to heaven. There is evil, betrayal, cruelty, loss, compassion, kindness, a touch of humor, and heart-stopping adventure. The swan Elsinore is intelligent, pragmatic, and a deeply moral force who keeps watch and intervenes when needed. The carefully constructed fantasy world holds perfectly true, always within the parameters set forth by the author. The invented language has a Scottish flavor, with subtle differences among the species. Further dimension is added by the detailed and beautifully expressed descriptions of place, action, and characters.

Draws readers deeply into a mystical world and leaves them wishing for more. (map) (Animal fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews