Green Boy FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
The Newbery Award–winning author of the series The Dark Is Rising brings young readers another adventure fantasy, an encouraging study of the unassuming power children have to change their worlds.
Twelve-year-old Trey and his little brother, Lou, a mute seven-year-old, live a simple, happy life with their grandparents on the fictitious Bahamian island of Lucaya. They have the run of the sea in the boat their grandfather gave them and spend most of their time on Long Pond Cay Island. There, they picnic under the casuarina trees, store favorite rocks and fossils in their secret cave, are friends with the local osprey, and marvel at the unspoiled beauty of their playground. Their world seems idyllic, until a foreign corporation suddenly threatens to "develop" Long Pond Cay into a tourist resort. Then something even more unexpected happens: Between tides on Long Pond Cay one day, the two enter the mysterious "Otherworld" -- Pangaia, a frighteningly overcrowded city-world where the natural environment has been destroyed and where Lou is not merely a mute little boy but the prophesied hero Lugh, born to replenish the world with trees. The boys shuttle back and forth between worlds, amid dangers they've never before known, in order to save Pangaia, their future, and Long Pond Cay, their present. But is Lou/Lugh's power strong enough to prevail, before Long Pond Cay is gone forever?
In Green Boy, Susan Cooper not only tells an action-packed story of personal survival and family loyalty but also presents a powerful social argument for young readers to ponder: What's more important, an unspoiled natural environment or corporate development? In addition, readers will love the sweetness and strength of Trey and Lou, Trey's protectiveness of his little brother, and their obvious affection for each other. (Michele D. Thomas)
ANNOTATION
Twelve-year-old Trey and his seven-year-old brother Lou, who does not speak, cross the barrier between two worlds, that of their island in the Bahamas, and a land called Pangaia, and play a mysterious role in restoring the natural environment in both places.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
On their idyllic Bahamian island, Trey's little brother, Lou, is different -- he doesn't speak and he suffers frightening seizures. But when he and Trey find themselves mysteriously transported to Pangaia, an alternative universe where pollution and over-development have all but destroyed nature, a militant underground environmental group greets him as the prophesied hero who will save their world.
But to realize this prophecy, Lou must take Trey on a terrifying and dangerous mission, with much more at stake than the fate of Pangaia. Does Lou have the power to save their own island home from a future as bleak as the world they've seen in Pangaia?
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Set in the fictitious Bahamanian island of Lucaya, Cooper's (The Dark Is Rising) latest fantasy begins with restful images of whistling ducks, bonefish and casuarina trees, but soon quickens its pace as two worlds collide for 12-year-old Trey and his "strange and special" younger brother. Although seven-year-old Lou is mute, he finds ways to communicate in his own world and in the "Otherworld" of Pangaia (referencing Gaia, also known as the earth goddess). At home, in their world, Lou and Trey's granddad wages a battle against developers who wish to create a resort on their unspoiled island. Meanwhile, in the Otherworld, Lou is the prophesied hero who solves a riddle and then transforms into a giant Green Man flowing with vegetation and rids it of its pollution. The message is clear: Pangaia portends the earth's future. In each setting, the narrative gives way to moments of preachiness or melodrama about protecting our environment; at the island meetings, for instance, winter residents, or "yachties," become contrite about their past sins and the "greenies" in Pangaia are labeled "terrorists" by the government officials. A subplot involving the boys' father wraps up a bit quickly and, in a somewhat contrived scenario, the idyllic Bahamian island is spared from development. As the story unfolds, however, young readers are likely to be pulled in by the sensitive portrayals of Trey and Lou, the mysterious adventures in Pangaia and the whirlwind climax. Ages 9-12. (Mar.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Children's Literature
Trey is twelve and lives on a small island in the Bahamas. He and his little brother are inseparable even though Lou is seven and has never spoken a word. When developers plan to build a massive resort on Long Pond Cay, the two brothers fear it will be the end of their island. On a visit to the secluded cay one day, a strange thing happens; the two boys find themselves in a different world. This new world is not like home. It is polluted and overpopulated. The government controls everyone and everything. Genetic engineering has made mutants out of what little wildlife is left. The strangest thing of all to Trey is that Lou is hailed as mythic hero to the Underground, the group of people trying to change the nightmarish world. Lou doesn't seem to be surprised with this role, making it even harder for Trey to keep him safe. The two boys must travel back and forth between these two worlds and try to find a way to save both of them before it is too late. This is a beautifully crafted story. Although the plot sounds complex, it is easy to follow and never lags. It is recommended to readers between 9-12, but older readers would find this book interesting as well. It makes a powerful statement against the way we treat our world and could lead to some wonderful discussions afterwards. 2002, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, $16.00. Ages 9 to 12. Reviewer: Heather Robertson
School Library Journal
Gr 4-7-While playing on pristine Long Pond Cay near their home in the Bahamas, 12-year-old Trey and 7-year-old Lou are transported to a nightmarish world that has almost been destroyed by pollution and overbuilding. The siblings make several visits to this Otherworld, where underground rebels take them under their wing, realizing that mute and mysterious Lou is the prophesied catalyst in the Greenwar they are waging. Meanwhile, in their own world, the children's grandparents are fighting a losing battle against developers who want to put a resort on Long Pond Cay. Trey, whose gender is never clearly stated, narrates this environmental fantasy in a sensible, likable voice, and there is enough tension and adventure in both worlds to keep the pages turning. Like Trey, readers might not understand why and how the siblings travel between the worlds and are so crucial to the future of the Otherworld. Compared to the compelling scenes that take place in the Bahamas, the Otherworld episodes feel forced and illogical-why must Lou find fossilized star shells in his own world in order to open a passageway in the Otherworld? That the Otherworld is a warning about the possible fate of Earth is clear, but whether it is a view of the mythic past, our future, or simply a different world is uncertain. These are issues that readers may enjoy pondering, but this is ultimately an unsatisfying tale.-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
An environmental message overwhelms the plot in this disappointing time-travel story. Twelve-year-old narrator Trey lives in the Bahamas with his grandparents and seven-year-old brother Lou, who has undiagnosed seizures and never talks. When the brothers' favorite island spot, Long Pond Cay, is slated to become a major resort, their grandfather protests with no success against the developers, who retaliate by secretly destroying his boats. Intensifying the evil of the developers' side of the issue, Trey's negligent father appears as a worker for the developer and threatens to take Trey from his grandparents. In the midst of these disputes, Trey and Lou are mysteriously transported to a city in the future, an environmental horror with no stars, fresh air, or open land. During several trips through time, Lou plays a key part in the future world's survival, in a strange meeting with Gaia, Mother Earth herself, and an even stranger scene in which Lou takes on a mythological role. While Cooper (King of Shadows, 1999, etc.) writes movingly about the beauty of the Bahamas and earnestly about her concerns for the future, she misses the mark here as a storyteller. The present and future worlds aren't meaningfully connected nor do the Celtic mythological references fit the surroundings. The issue of the resort is all too easily resolved; the narrator veers into an adult voice in places; and Lou comes across not as a credible seven-year-old but as a literary device. (Fiction. 9-12)
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