Newbery Medal (John Newbery Medal)
A String in the Harp
A String in the Harp is a children's fantasy novel by Nancy Bond first published in 1976. It received a 1977 Newbery Honor award and the Welsh Tir na n-Og Award. It tells of the American Morgan family who temporarily move to Wales, where Peter Morgan finds a magical harp key that gives him vivid visions of the past. This well-received novel is an unusual time travel story, with its focus on the emotional pain and separation the Morgans experience after the death of their mother and the gradual healing they find through their experiences.
Work Information
A String in the Harp is a children's fantasy novel by Nancy Bond first published in 1976.
A String in the Harp is a children's fantasy novel by Nancy Bond first published in 1976. It received a 1977 Newbery Honor award and the Welsh Tir na n-Og Award. It tells of the American Morgan family who temporarily move to Wales, where Peter Morgan finds a magical harp key that gives him vivid visions of the past. This well-received novel is an unusual time travel story, with its focus on the emotional pain and separation the Morgans experience after the death of their mother and the gradual healing they find through their experiences.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Margaret K. McElderry Books
- Published
- 1976-01-01
- Pages
- 384 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 14.29 x 2.79 x 23.5 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780689500367
- ISBN-10
- 068950036X
- Price
- 13675 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Children's Books/Growing Up & Facts of Life/Family Life/Siblings
When fifteen-year-old Jen Morgan flies to Wales to spend Christmas with her family, she's not expecting much from the holiday. A year after her mother's sudden death, her father seems preoccupied by the teaching job that has brought him and Jen's younger siblings to Wales for the year. Her brother, Peter, is alternately hostile and sullen,and her sister, Becky, misses Jen terribly. Then Peter tells Jen he's found a strange artifact, a harp key that shows him pictures from the life of Taliesin, the great bard whose life in sixth-century Wales has been immortalized in legend. At first Jen doesn't believe him, but when the key's existence -- and its strange properties -- become known to the wider world, the Morgans must act together against a threat to the key...and to their family.
Nancy Bond is the author of a number of books for young readers, including The Voyage Begun, a Boston Globe -Horn Book Award Honor Book; A Place to Come Back To, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and a Booklist Editor's Choice; and Truth to Tell. She wrote after attending library school in a Welsh town outside of Aberstwyth, the book's setting. She lives in Concord, Massachusetts.
Reviews
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Fascinating book for All
My 12 year old grandson chose this book from the library, read it, and liked it. I was at his house, saw his library copy and began browsing through it. I liked it so much that I decided I needed to finish it for myself, so I bought it for my Kindle. The story line blends the real with the imagination. It captures the moods of a young family in a realistic way. The mother has died, the father is trying to cope but having trouble doing so, they are uprooted to Wales where they live in a very different way than what they had in Massachusetts. They begin with little steps to make adjustments. They learn about Welsh history through hands-on real life adventures that border on the mystical, but it never steps into anything that is dark. This book held my attention, made me want to visit a small village or two in Wales, and I would highly recommend it for anyone who is not afraid of trying to read or pronounce words of a Welsh origin.
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An easy read! Very well written!
I love this book! Partly as I live where it's set but well worth a read! For teenagers but I'm an adult and I loved it...good if you like wales/welsh history!
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It is slow but rich
This book meanders. Based on the description, I expected the plot to quicken at some point; a portal to old Wales to open up, the siblings to find their way through it and home together, Magic Treehouse style. But it never did. It stayed slow, dipping into Taliesen’s story as necessary (through Peter’s eyes) but focusing mainly on the Morgans and the healing of their family. I have a special interest (read: obsession) with Wales, so this was a wonderful read. The exploration and speculation about Taliesen, THE most famous of the bards, was very fun. All the other cultural touches were a delight and the descriptions of landscape were lovely. Outside of my Wales obsession, this quiet story of a family healing and learning to listen to (and better love) one another again is just lovely. I got a little misty eyed in the last few chapters. It is a little strange, but the uniqueness lends charm. It is a little slow, but in the warm way of a weekend morning. I liked it. It was good.
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Not a book to be missed
This book is one of my favorites. Originally written for young adults, I first discovered it while working as a librarian. It is possible to care about each character, even those whose motives or actions seem off kilter. The 3 children and their father are coping with the sudden loss of their mother/wife in an auto accident. The 2 younger children and their father are in Wales. The father is teaching for a year at a Welsh university. The eldest child is a teenage girl. She has been living with her aunt, but is now going to Wales to be with the family for the Christmas holidays. What happens after she gets there makes up the action of the book. There is mystery, fantasy, family and friendship. Plus, everyone in the family learns to cope with, lean on and make changes in their family dynamic without the mother/wife. It's not pedantic and not maudlin. It's fascinating and a great read.
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A Longtime Favorite
I loved this book the first time I read it years ago. After reading the library copy, I bought the hardcover book, and, more recently, the unabridged audio version. I love listening to the audio version and especially hearing Welsh words spoken. Even after several listenings, I am ready to listen again. This recent paperback purchase was a gift to the child of a friend. The magical flows together and mixes delightfully with everyday reality in this utterly charming book. Celtic mythology, a taste of the mystery of Wales, an experience of the timelessness of time--all blend seamlessly in this story of adjustment to loss and change as each of the main characters comes of age! I highly reccommend it!