2005 book 20

peter beagle's tamsin
this week's assignment for popular materials was a sci-fi or fantasy novel--beagle, of course, is the author of one of my all-time favorite books (fantasy or otherwise), the last unicorn, but i'd never read any of his other works. this is a more conventional modern fantasy book--your awkward 13-year-old girl moves from new york to england when her mother remarries, and in the midst of adjusting to her new life, discovers all sorts of "old weirdness" in the old house her family is restoring. fans of harry potter will recognize some of the british folklore--the black dog is similar to rowling's grim, although here it serves as more of a warning than as an omen of death, and boggarts appear as well, although as little mischievous elf-types, they are hardly the embodiments of fear one finds in potter. my favorite mystical creature was the pooka, a shape-shifting troublemaker. of course, the major weirdness that jenny runs into is the ghost who inhabits her third floor--the troubled titular tamsin, who, despite being dead for 300 years, is in great danger, and jenny has to help her remember why. really a great story (though there were several typos! WHYYYYY!) and now i must seek out more of beagle's works. you're 2 for 2 w/ me, peter!