Melling, O.R. The hunter's moon.

MELLING, O.R. The hunter's moon. (The Chronicles of Faerie.) Abrams, Amulet. 284p. c2005.0-8109-5857-0. $16.95. J

Two 16-year-old cousins, Gwen, from Canada, and Finn, from Ireland, plan to spend their summer touring Ireland and finding their way into the world of Faerie, although they only half-acknowledge their true goal to themselves. So imagine Gwen's surprise when she wakes up alone one morning after camping in a place known to be inhabited by "the good people" to find her cousin fairy-napped. Gwen spends the rest of the novel traveling around Ireland (following clues much like the contestants on The Amazing Race), slipping between modern Ireland and the supernatural, catching glimpses of her cousin, occasionally mingling with the immortals while trying to rescue Finn. Gwen makes several allies (including a boyfriend, also coincidentally the unacknowledged King of the Island of Inch to whom the fairies listen). These friends band together to defeat the evil worm who wants Finn as his annual sacrifice.

Readers of fantasy novels will probably enjoy this female quest novel set in Ireland and featuring native fairies, elves, and monsters. This is the first book in a series that has already been popular in Canada. Readers will take the unlikely events of this novel in stride. Standard archetypes abound. Yet, the theme of girls overcoming evil against tremendous odds is welcome, and the Irish venue is interesting.

Myrna Marler, Assoc. Prof. of English, BYU, Provo, UT

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescent and their teachers.