A Wind in the Door

L'Engle, Madeleine

ISBN 10: 0374384436 / ISBN 13: 9780374384432

Published by Farrar Straus Giroux, NY, 1981

About this Item

In VG+ DJ (in protector) ; Signed and inscribed by author. Black cloth hardback. "Companion piece" to A Wrinkle in Time; A Wrinkle In Time Quintet; 8vo (8.6 X 5.7 X 1.0 inches); 211 pages; Signed by Author. Seller Inventory # 55274

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Wind in the Door

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux, NY

Publication Date: 1981

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good+

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: Tenth Printing.

About this title

Synopsis:

A "Wind In The Door" is a fantastic adventure story involving Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe, the chief characters of "A Wrinkle In Time." The seed from which the story grows is the rather ordinary situation of Charles Wallace's having difficulty in adapting to school. He is extremely bright, so much so that he gets punched around a lot for being "different." He is also strangely, seriously ill (mitochondritis -- the destruction of farandolae, minute creature of the mitochondria in the blood). Determined to help Charles Wallace in school, Meg pays a visit to his principal, Mr. Jenkins, a dry, cold man with whom Meg herself has had unfortunate run-ins. The interview with Mr. Jenkins goes badly and Meg worriedly returns home to find Charles Wallace waiting for her. "There are, " he announces, "dragons in the twins' vegetable garden. Or there were. They've moved to the north pasture now."

Dragons ? Not really, but an entity, a being stranger by far than dragons; and the encounter with this alien creature is only the first step that leads Meg, Calvin, and Mr. Jenkins out into galactic space, and then into the unimaginably small world of a mitochondrion. And, at last, safely, triumphantly, home.

Review:

"The chief characters of A Wrinkle in Time return in a complex sci-fi / fantasy adventure that is both similar and superior . . . The action is precipitated by Charles Wallace's failing health and his difficulties in being accepted by other children now that he's started school. Meg and O'Keefe are enlisted again to fight evil, this time in the shapre of Echthroi ('Light snuffers. Planet darkeners. The dragons. The worms. Those who hate.'), which are spreading through the universe. Guided by their mysterious teacher Blajeny and accompanied by a myriad-eyed, multiwinged cherubim named Proginoskes, Meg, Calivn and Mr. Jenkins (the crusty, unimaginitive school principal with whom Meg ha shad difficulty in the past) must pass three ordeals in order to save Charles Wallace from the Echthroi. Once again it is love that enables Meg to overcome evil, and L'Engle reaches mystical ecstasy in describing Meg's apprehension of the beauty and unity of the universe. Complex concepts of space and time are handled well for youn greaders, and the author creates a suspensful, life-and-death drama that is believably of cosmic significance. Complex and rich in mystical religious insights, this is breathtaking entertainment." --Starred, School Library Journal