A new and unique fantasy for young readers, Rooke's Island: The Prophecy of the Staring Eyes, has great characters, extraordinary settings, and lots of magic.
A Fantasy Adventure
Meet Margery Mutters, a woman who feels closer to nature than she does to people. She’s an extraordinary woman but she’s hidden it well, perhaps even from herself. She’s also a woman with a rather mysterious family background that’s about to reach out and grab her. Margery lives alone at the top of Old Oak Hill in Canyon City, a seemingly ordinary city, but one where wonderful things can happen at any moment.
The simultaneous arrival on Margery’s doorstep of a frightened postman, a peculiar letter, and an angry owl, mark the beginning of a grand adventure that changes Margery’s whole world. Luckily, she’s ready for anything.
Abruptly, Margery find’s herself leaving home. Her first destination is Alwyn’s Village, a community that sits not only on the shore of Robinson Strait, but also on the brink of another world, into which it seems perpetually ready to tumble. Her second stop is Rooke’s Island, part of that other world, where owls and magic reign and anything seems possible.
Beset by threats on every side, the owls themselves are on the crest of great change, and Margery arrives just in time to be part of it. As she learns more about the birds and the Owl’s Prophecy, she blends seamlessly with her new reality and disappears from the ordinary world of Canyon City forever.
Magical Adventure for Young Readers
Rooke's Island takes us on a magical romp through a world of colorful places and larger-than-life characters reminiscent of A Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket, or James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl. Young readers will love the vociferous Gabbi Mooleys and her hideous Purple Inn, not to mention the repulsive lawyer Sidney Snog, and the maniacal Cockeye, a wise old owl who’s lost his wits. And they’ll thrill to the many whimsical secrets hidden on Rooke’s Island, home to innumerable otherworldly owls.
From the moment when author S. K. Whalen reminds us that even a postage stamp has power because it can “stick to one thing, and one thing only,” we know that everyday things have slipped away. We’re ready, then, for stepping stones like checker pieces dotting a boiling subterranean lake, a roller coaster that travels the undulating root system of a giant Redwood tree, and other magical adventures.
About the Author S. K. Whalen
Author S. K. Whalen has a flair for imaginative description and language that makes the reader feel part of her fantasy land, while Whalen’s real life connection to the imagination of a young reader—her informant Miss Vickie—assures the appeal of the book for 9 to 12-year-olds. There are strong male and female characters throughout, and if the owls seem overly hierarchical and patriarchal at first, they make up for it with their multiculturalism, and with their ultimate ability to adjust to the unexpected and accept new ideas. Rooke’s Island is a delightful and original new fantasy tale for young readers.
Rooke’s Island: The Prophecy of the Staring Eyes (iUniverse: New York, 2007 ISBN 978-0-595-44545-5) by S. K. Whalen, is available from both Chapters and Amazon in hard cover and paperback .
