Return of the Quetzal [Paperback]

Margaret Gill (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

Return of the Quetzal is a ripping good yarn, a wonderfully dramatic story based on the theme of faiths-religious faith, false faith, faith in one's self, in other people, and in one's roots.The teenage heroine Meg, uprooted from her smug little middle class life in England, struggles to find her place in the multi-cultural broil of a small Central American country. She stands alone in both her doubts about the strangely compelling and mysterious new teacher and in her search for her missing brother until she meets Tony, her first friend in a strange country, and her first love.The quest for her brother in the heart of the Costa Rican Rain Forest is beautifully realized, as is the terrific final climax to the book.-Bette Paul (Children's Author and Winner of the Carnegie Medal.)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Margaret Gill holds a degree in English Literature and has taught for many years in schools and colleges in Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. She has won prizes for her poetry and children?s fiction. Her other published novels for children include Secret of The Rothley Papers and Decree of The Amulet.Return of the Quetzal is her first novel for teenagers.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 182 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (January 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595265316
• ISBN-13: 978-0595265312
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,614,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

NARWHAL ....


... an eerie and mysterious tale of Gray Edmond on the claustrophobic island of St Hellicks, the pseudonym for St. Agnes, one of the more remote of the Scilly isles.

When Gray retrieves an engraved narwhal's tusk from the sea, disturbing changes begin to happen to both marine and bird life. The islanders suspect Gray's unusual powers of being able to communicate with seals and other creatures as the cause of the unrest. They find the tusk he has hidden away and fear that an ancient prophecy threatening the island will come to pass since they have always considered the narwhal as an omen of disaster. Gray finds himself the victim of a confused and complex web of superstition as the islanders decide a ritual sacrifice must be made. How can he prove his innocence and escape their final condemnation of him?


Narwhal was winner of the Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing and was shortlisted for the Cinnamon Press Awards.

Living with his father on an island where, despite their way of life being so misunderstood, Gray Edmond remains content with his lot. But when an ancient narwhal tusk is washed up at his feet, a sequence of seemingly inevitable events begins to unfold and Gray sees his life as he knows it crashing out of control. Will Gray realise the danger that he is in? Will the narrow minded and insular locals lash out in fear of the power of the narwhal legend? As the book pushes towards its frenetic conclusion, nothing is certain.



Narwhal is a compelling tale of the effect of a legend and a prophecy on a community and on the life of one boy in particular. Gray, a wholly likeable and clearly gifted young man with a special relationship with aquatic life, is a beacon of hope throughout the book. As Gill knits together this tale of fear, greed, friendship, misunderstanding and love, a wonderful story begins to unfold.




ABOUT MARGARET GILL


I was born in a small mining village in South Yorkshire. I was able, however, even as a small child, to escape to the countryside to be alone with my love of nature. I wrote poetry from an early age and my first novel at fourteen. But later the pressures of teaching full time and raising a family meant that writing was put on the back burner. When I started teaching part time I began to write seriously and have since written eight novels for children 11 to 13.


My books seem to be peopled with strong gutsy heroines who are prepared to go through hell, fire and damnation to reach their goals. Although Narwhal, which takes place on the Isles of Scilly, has a hero for a change, as he matures, and under the tutelage of a Carlos Castenada type shaman, he becomes the protagonist for my latest novel The Quetzal Skull, as he ventures into the rain forests of Costa Rica.


Many of my books centre around places that have intrigued me, like Costa Rica (which is also the setting for Return of the Quetzal), Syria, which is the arena for the dark mystery Secret of the Scrolls, and Tibet, which features strongly in Eye of the Mandala.

HH What provided your inspiration for the story?


MG: The inspiration comes from knowledge of the number of shipwrecks off the shores of the Isles of Scilly, particularly St. Agnes (St. Hellicks). The stories of the islanders which abound, tell of many strange objects being washed ashore. On St. Agnes one of the bays is named Beady Pool because even today, coloured beads, part of a cargo of a wrecked vessel, are still, after 200 years being washed up with the tide.
The idea of the narwhal's tusk came from my fascination with the idea that the narwhal was once called the 'unicorn of the sea' and that in the past the tusk was held to have special magical qualities. So I imagine it could have been carried aboard one of the many wrecked sailing ships in the past carrying valuable cargo. There are at least three famous ship wrecks off the coast of Agnes which were transporting loot from the Med. And recently a haul of gold coins valued at millions was discovered off the Scillonian shores. The Colossus, to name just one, was wrecked between St Agnes and Bryer in 1784 while carrying the entire wealth of Sir William Hamilton and only a fraction of that cargo has ever been retrieved.

HH Are you a lover of myths and legends?
MG: Unequivocally yes. I devoured all the Greek myths as a child and am fascinated by the myths of the Mayas and Incas. My third novel for young adults tells the story of a charismatic character who believes himself to be the reincarnated Quetzalcoatl, who also appears in my current novel, The Quetzal Skull.






HH Do you have any experience of a community similar to the one portrayed in the book?
MG: I have been visiting the beautiful windswept island of St. Agnes ( St. Hellicks) for well over 16 years and consequently have a detailed knowledge of its flora, fauna and terrain. On Agnes there are less than 60 inhabitants and it is of necessity a close community. Resources tend to be pooled and shared and it doesn't take a great leap of imagination to picture how an outsider might rock the boat. Indeed anyone from the mainland is still regarded as a foreigner and even those from the other 'off islands' are regarded as being 'different' Clearly I have exaggerated the tightness of the community and the insularity of the islanders to fit the story.

HH How important was Julie to your story?
MG: Julie was vital to the story since she provided the only friend and helper after the demise of Tom and Charlotte. She was also the spur to Gray's pursuit of the meaning and purpose of the tusk. Her link to the SIPP through the grandfather was also an important connection.

HH 'Narwhal' is pervaded by references to nature. Have you always taken such a keen interest in the natural world around us?
MG: Being close to nature is an integral part of the way of life of the island and I suspect only people who love isolation and the real beauty of such unspoilt places would ever bother to visit there. Having said that I live in a very quiet country village next to a farm and with miles of lovely surrounding country. I have always been a 'country girl' and walked and cycled miles as a child collecting wild flowers which I carefully pressed and researched. So yes, I have always been a nature lover.




HH Does the reaction to the tusk represent, in your opinion, a malaise in society towards those who are different and go against the grain?

MG: Yes you are right. The basic premise in the book is the need to respect the differences between peoples and while communities need to work together it does not support the rejection of individuals who think and behave in idiosyncratic ways. I think the way you express it as a wider malaise is something that occurs as a major theme in all my books particularly in the trilogy which begins with The Brain Changers.


HH Did you have to carry out any research to write the book?
MG I researched Runic inscriptions, the value of Narwhal tusks, Earth Mysteries on the Scillies, the Roman Tin islands, The Drowned landscape of the Scillies, Scillonian myths and legends, shipwrecks , specifically HMS Colossus, the work of Tesla, the effects of ultra sounds on humans and other natural species, Taos Hum, Tones of Planet Earth, the effects of 6-10HzELF on brain waves, Backwoods home magazine, living the 'natural life' Government use of 'Mind control methods' Cold war methods of Mind control. Bronze age monoliths, barrows, ancient inscriptions, the list is endless and much that was researched did not of course end up in the story to which I might add the many books of fiction and non fiction about piracy on the Scillies, Hell Bay, Zanzibar to name a few.


MARGARET'S SELECTED DINNER GUESTS

I would love to be in the company of people who have influenced my life and my writing and there seems to be a common thread which runs through my choice. Carlos Castaneda whose writing I have devoured since reading his book "The Teachings of Don Juan" and whose philosophy about being a spiritual warrior, assuming responsibility for being here, shutting off incessant internal dialogue, being able to 'see' the flow of energy in the universe would match with Paul Solomon's, who was my first spiritual teacher and who lectured on Atlantis, the Great Crystal and the mystical Hall of Records. To augment their contributions I would choose Jiddu Krishmanurti whose philosophy was "Truth is a pathless way" and who declared allegiance to no nationality, caste, or religion, Madame Blavatsky the Russian mystic and Annie Besant who was a Theosophist and tried unsuccessfully to get Krishnamurti involved. That would cause sparks to fly. So that I might not be accused of being too narrow in my choice I would include Phillip Pullman whose "Dark Materials" inspired me with his debunking of religious ideologies and my life long love, DH Lawrence with his passionate intensity for nature, his philosophy of universal energy and his visionary imagination . I would have to have another writer to confer with Lawrence and since he always said he was Hardy's inheritor and I've loved him too since a youngster the choice is clear. I would invite Mikao Usui so that I could literally experience his ability to transfer energy and finally I would have to have a composer, Claude Debussy, for me, the most lyrical and romantic of musicians.





Margaret's Website www.margaretgill.co.uk