Zilpha Keatley Snyder (1927–2014)

Zilpha Keatley Snyder's marvelous Green Sky Trilogy, begun in Below the Root and continued in And All Between, comes to a conclusion in this third and final installment of the story. Opening shortly after the events of the previous book, in which Uniforce returned to the Kindar in the form of the children Pomma and Teera, and the secret society of Geets-kel renounced their opposition to the Rejoyning of the Kindar and Erdling peoples, the story here kicks off as the leaders of Orbora are informed of the astonishing history that had been kept from them. All does not go quite as the Rejoyners hope however, and the book chronicles the first year after these revelations, as the Erdlings are released from their subterranean prison, and gradually join the above-ground Kindar world. The ongoing tensions between the two groups, and the challenges faced by those hoping for their integration—resistant factions on both the Kindar and Erdling sides, the seeming disappearance of Pomma and Teera, and the theft of the dangerous tool of violence—are chronicled, as events lead up to the Celebration—the one year anniversary of Green Sky's Rejoyning. Can Raamo and his friends triumph, and finally defeat the ancestral specter of violence their society was founded to escape from, and what price must they pay to do so...?

Although there are some flaws in Until the Celebration, as well as in The Green Sky Trilogy in general, I nevertheless enjoyed this conclusion to Snyder's story immensely. As with its predecessors, I found the world of the Kindar and Erdlings to be a fascinating one, appreciating all of the details regarding customs, rituals and beliefs, and the way these varied between the two groups. I thought Snyder did an excellent job depicting the disillusionment experienced by the Kindar, when some of the central tenets of their belief system—the evil nature of the Pash-shan, the infallibility and goodness of the Ol-zhaan—fell away. The way in which they subsequently latched on to the two children, Pomma and Teera, as figures with spiritual meaning, was astutely captured, revealing the way in which people need and desire symbols of hope and strength. Raamo's perceptive understanding that there is a danger in this veneration of the children may be proved correct in the end, but it also reinforces the original idea, that belief and ritual, especially of a spiritual and/or religious nature, is often necessary for peaceful and just societies. I was also greatly impressed by the storytelling decision Snyder made, in killing off her hero. Other great stories have flirted with the idea—a prime example being the Harry Potter books—but I think in general it is very unusual to see this outcome, in a work intended for children. Which isn't to say that children's fiction never addresses death, but when it does, it is usually the focus of the story, which tends to center around grief and loss. Here the focus is on sacrifice, even if done inadvertently, and I think it was a bold choice on Snyder's part. I have read that she regretted the end of this book, so it may be that she changed her mind after the fact, but in the telling, she clearly felt that sacrifice and loss were an essential part of her tale.

All of this being said, despite my great enjoyment of and appreciation for this series, I must admit that it suffers from some structural issues that prevent it from being quite as outstanding as it would otherwise have been. I think the trouble starts in the second book, And All Between, which covers much of the same material as in the first book, Below the Root. While I didn't dislike this "repetition" as much as some other online reviewers—I enjoyed seeing some of the same events from the Erdling perspective—given the fact that I found this third book somewhat rushed, covering too much in too few pages, I think that either this decision in the second book to go back and retell part of the story ought to have been reconsidered, or that this third book ought to have been expanded, and made into two books. There was simply too much going on here, and not enough attention paid to any of it, to truly satisfy. I also felt that the conclusion of the book was somehow off. Raamo's death, which should have been the climax of the story, was overshadowed by the return of Pomma and Teera. The latter also felt rushed, in and of itself, and I couldn't help feeling that the experiences of the two girls ought to have been its own storyline, within the book, rather than relayed briefly after the fact. Of course, despite these structural flaws, I do truly love this series as a whole, and consider the first book (Below the Root) practically perfect. Highly recommended to any younger (or older) reader who enjoys fantasy, science fiction, dystopian fiction, or just thoughtful, more philosophical fiction in general.… (mer)

Opening in Erda, the underground civilization and home of the Erdlings, whose ancestors had been banished from the arboreal Kindar world high above, this second book in Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Green Sky Trilogy covers some of the same ground as its predecessor, Below the Root, but is told (at least at first) from the perspective of Teera, the little Erdling girl found on the forest floor by Raamo and D'ol Neric in the earlier book. Running away from home when her pet lapan, Haba, is threatened—it is a time of great food scarcity amongst the Erdlings, and pets are to be sacrificed to the people's hunger—Teera finds herself on an extraordinary journey, escaping through the magical root that imprisons her people, and eventually taken in by a Kindar family. As she learns about life in the treetops of Green-sky, and becomes close friends with Pomma, the daughter of the family with whom she now resides, Raamo, D'ol Neric, Genaa and D'ol Falla must decide what to do about the central dilemma uncovered in the previous book. Namely, the truth that the monstrous Pash-shan feared by the Kindar were none other than their brethren—the banished Kindar who had come to be Erdlings—and the question of how to reveal that truth to Kindar society. As Genaa and D'ol Neric set out on a mission to Erda, Raamo and D'ol Falla confront an even more terrible truth: some amongst the priestly Ol-zhaan are willing to use violence, even against children, to protect their secrets...

Judging from most of the reviews online, many readers find And All Between a somewhat unsatisfactory sequel to Below the Root, chiefly because its first half is devoted to a recap of what occurred in that earlier book. While I can certainly see why some would think this title suffered from "Middle Book Syndrome," and while I didn't love it quite as much as the first book, for my part I nevertheless found it an immensely enjoyable continuation of the story. It's true that there is less narrative excitement and suspense in the first half, as we already know what is going to happen. That being said, the exploration of life in Erda was fascinating, just as the exploration of life amongst the Kindar in the first book was so engrossing. The more emotional nature of the Erdlings, the way in which they governed themselves, the way their families were structured—all of it was very interesting to me, both the first time I read this book, some years ago, and now, upon this reread. The second half of the book was more gripping, as it advanced the overall story, and I found myself on the edge of my seat on more than one occasion. The conclusion, in which the much revered uniforce reappears in the world of Green-sky as a result of the bond between Teera and Pomma, as the result of an Erdling and Kindar child working together, points the way to developments in the third and final book. All in all, although I do agree that there are some structural issues with the Green Sky Trilogy overall (something I will discuss in my review of the third book), I think this is a worthy follow-up and second title. I enjoyed reading it, and (much as with it predecessor) found the accompanying artwork from illustrator Alton Raible (who worked on the entire trilogy) just lovely. Recommended to anyone who has read and enjoyed the first book.… (mer)

I picked up a copy from a Little Free Library, I read and enjoyed a few of her books as a kid but I had not heard of this one. It was not as successful as others. I'll leave aside the highly dated dog-eat-dog world of raising and teaching children in 1936 (let the bully beat him up, it will be good for him) and mostly complain that I never really connected with the two main characters, Amy and Jason. I expected Amy to be the thoughtful dreamer kid with the wild imagination and she just didn't turn out that way. Jason was just shown to be really strange, not much reason given, then it all just ended. I may go back to The Egypt Game instead.… (mer)