Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the image.

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, BOOK 3: LUCINDA’S SECRET

SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
AUTHORS: Tony DiTerlizzi (illustrator) and Holly Black (writer)
ISBN: 0-689-85936-9; hardback
114 pp., Text with B&W illos., $9.95

In The Field Guide (Book 1) Jared Grace, his twin brother, Simon, and their older sister, Mallory, moved into a dilapidated Victorian mansion, the Spiderwick estate, with their mother Helen.  The mansion is filled with secrets, including a library hidden within the structure.  Jared also found a worn, old book entitled “Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You,” which informed the Grace children that the estate is sort of a nexus point into the world of Faerie.

In The Seeing Stone (Book 2), a band of goblins kidnapped Simon.  Jared and Mallory went on a rescue mission that saw them facing a hungry creek troll and finding a wounded gryphon, which Simon named, “Byron.”

In The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book Three of Five: Lucinda’s Secret, the children convince their mother to take them to see her Aunt Lucinda, Arthur Spiderwick’s daughter.  Lucinda believes the children’s stories, but warns them to destroy the field guide.  The Grace kids ignore her warnings and return to the hidden library where they find an old map.  Their adventure – follow the map – and it leads them right into the clutches of the wood elves, where they find hints about the fate of Arthur Spiderwick.

THE LOWDOWN:  Holly Black’s writing becomes more mysterious and magical.  Tony DiTerlizzi’s drawings become more enchanted as the Spiderwick fantasy serial begins to take on a grander, more epic scale than the early chapters suggested.  It’s as if Black and DiTerlizzi have used glamour to enthrall their young readers and take them captive into the wonderful world of Spiderwick.  The authors’ magic even extends to the young at heart, as the sequence of the encounter with the wood elves is just as well written and captivating as storytelling in adult fantasy.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers of juvenile fantasy – regardless of age – will likely love this low key fantasy which is so grounded in the real world that it seems as if The Spiderwick Chronicles are based on real events.

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