Books by
Zilpha Keatley Snyder

THE BRONZE PEN

THE TREASURES OF WEATHERBY

THE MAGIC NATION THING

THE UNSEEN

THE BRONZE PEN
by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Atheneum/Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9781416942016
Ages 8-12
208 pages

Twelve-year-old Audrey Elgin Abbott’s dad is sick. Her mom, who used to stay at home, works long hours to pay the family’s bills. Before his illness, John Abbott was a robust man and the editor of the Greendale Times. Now his “angina pectoris” keeps him house-bound and mostly in bed.

Audrey’s mother works for a demanding boss who doesn’t like to give her time off to care for John. Because of her father’s heart problems and the long hours her mother spends at work, Audrey has to hurry home right after school and check on him. She’s a worrier, and her schedule doesn’t leave much time for friends.

When she isn’t playing chess with her dad or doing homework, Audrey is reading or caring for the family pets --- Beowulf, their Irish wolfhound, and Sputnik, the reformed “foul mouth” cockatiel. In her spare time, Audrey writes stories in her notebook and dreams of becoming a writer.

One day, while Audrey sits outside writing, something moving through the bushes startles her. She puts down her notebook, jumps up and sees a white duck. The duck lets Audrey pet its bill, then gestures for her to follow it.

Curious, Audrey follows the feathery creature to a vine-covered cave on Wild Oaks Hill. It’s the same cave where Audrey used to play with her friends. She meets a mysterious old woman who is able to calm the creatures inside the cave and seems to know her deepest hopes and fears.

Audrey “should have known better than to tell her parents about the woman in the cave.” Worried that she’s homeless and hungry, her parents call the police. When the cops fail to find the old lady, they suspect that Audrey’s overactive imagination is working overtime.

But Audrey knows that what she saw is real, and she can’t stop worrying about the strange woman. Without telling her parents, she once again visits the cave. The caped and cloaked figure inside is glad to see her. Before she leaves, the woman gives Audrey an “ancient pen made out of dark, almost rust-colored metal and covered with strange marks and scratches.” The woman advises her to “use it wisely and to good purpose.”

After Audrey uses the pen to write a story about a girl who can talk to animals, strange things begin to happen. Is it Audrey’s imagination, or can animals talk to her? Does the pen have magical powers? If so, why doesn’t it work all the time? And who will believe her story?

THE BRONZE PEN by Zilpha Keatley Snyder is a nostalgic tale about a lonely girl with a magical gift and a loving heart. The advice of the mysterious old woman in the cave --- to use the bronze pen “wisely and to good purpose” --- is a timely message for writers of all ages.

    --- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt (dvolkenannt@charter.net)

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.

Back to top.