Amazon.com: A Ring of Endless Light: Madeleine L'Engle: Books

Review
"With customary grace and firm control of an intricate plot, L'Engle has created another irresistible novel about familiar characters, the Austin family. Vicky, 16, narrates the climactic events with Grandfather Eaton on a New England island, where he is living his last days." --Publishers Weekly
-- Review --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“With customary grace and firm control of an intricate plot, L’Engle has created another irresistible novel about familiar characters, the Austin family. Vicky, 16, narrates the climactic events with Grandfather Eaton on a New England island, where he is living his last days.”—Publishers Weekly

“L’Engle has the magic storytelling gift that makes it a pleasure to lose yourself in her spell.”—Newsweek

“L’Engle writes eloquently about death and life with provocative passages that linger in the thoughts of the perceptive.”—Booklist, Starred Review

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group (September 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0440910811
ISBN-13: 978-0440910817
Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (203 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,141,752 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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#69 in Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( L ) > L'Engle, Madeleine

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
dolphin pens

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Commander Rodney, New York, Coast Guard, Alfa Romeo, Cornelius Codd, Seven Bay Island, Nancy Rodney, Marine Biology Station, Adam Eddington, Henry Vaughan, Nora Zand, Jacky Rodney, Jeb Nutteley, John Austin, Great Dane, Vicky Austin, Elephant's Child, Twelfth Night

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	79% buy the item featured on this page: A Ring of Endless Light 4.8 out of 5 stars (203)
	8% buy Meet the Austins: The Austin Family Chronicles, Book 1 4.3 out of 5 stars (25) $6.99
	5% buy The Arm of the Starfish (Laurel Leaf Books) 4.3 out of 5 stars (40)
	5% buy The Wrinkle in Time Quintet Boxed Set (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, An Acceptable Time) 4.8 out of 5 stars (20) $23.09

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Customer Reviews

203 Reviews

5 star:		(181)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (203 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars L'Engle at her finest!, September 22, 2003

By	Nina M. Osier (Augusta, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Ring of Endless Light (Austin Family) (Mass Market Paperback)

Vicky Austin knows that this will be her last summer on Seven Bay Island with her beloved grandfather, because the scholarly retired clergyman is dying of a fast-moving form of leukemia. 15-year-old Vicky stands on the dividing line between childhood and adulthood. As a budding poet, she promises to retain childhood's heightened and sometimes painful sensitivities even after she crosses that border. That's a bond she shares with her grandfather, but not with the rest of her loving yet far more scientifically inclined family.

Complicating this already trying time for Vicky are three young men. Leo, a lifelong friend of her family, wants more from her than the companionship and sympathy she is ready to offer him. Zachary, a severely troubled and wealthy youth who was her first real boyfriend, follows her to Seven Bay Island and alternately charms and frightens her with attentions that her family would prefer she didn't accept. And Adam, her older brother John's friend from MIT, assumes an important place in her life when he discovers that Vicky's extraordinary (and unexpected, and unexplained) ability to communicate with dolphins can transform his summer project at the Island's oceanographic research station.

While Vicky's romantic and other feelings for this trio are central to the story, this is not a conventional tale of young love in which the girl's choice of suitor is the whole point. Vicky Austin is a complete person, and not about to treat romance at age 15 as the be-all and end-all of her life so far; nor as the defining influence on her future. Until now she has been something of a misfit, with her physician father and scientifically inclined older brother and younger sister tech-talking over her head. This summer, finally, "dreamy Vicky" who often slips away to write verses comes into her own. Which, as so often happens in real life, can only occur as she is tested by life. And by death, and by her responses to both.

L'Engle at her finest! Although I'm of grandmotherly years now, "A Wrinkle in Time" was among my own girlhood's defining books. I must now go out and find the rest of the Austin books. This writer's works have something to offer any reader, not just youthful ones.

--Nina M. Osier, author of "Love, Jimmy: A Maine Veteran's Longest Battle"

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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, October 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Ring of Endless Light (Austin Family) (Hardcover)

I don't believe that I've read many books as powerful as this one. All of Ms. L'Engle's books are amazing, but this one is my personal favorite. Vicky Austin, star of two previous books, has hit the hardest summer of her life. Her beloved grandfather, who is an absolutely amazing person, is dying of leukemia, and she has to come to terms with this. Enter three young men, all with their own experiences of death: Leo, whose father had died; Zachary, whose mother had died; and Adam from _The Arm of the Starfish_, who watched as someone he cared for was shot. Vicky hears their stories and has to come up with her own way to deal with dying. And this is only half of it. A previous reviewer didn't like the ending, but it was one of my favorite parts. The book as a whole is a testament to humanity's ability to see the whole of things, not one part. Like another previous reviewer, I would recommend this book to the 13-plus age group, rather than the fifth or sixth grade level the book has been given. One of the perfect pieces of children's literature.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! That's all I can say!, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Ring of Endless Light (Austin Family) (Mass Market Paperback)

Hi ya'll! First of all, A Ring of Endless Light is a simply great book by Madeline L'Engle, probably her best book. It's about not-quite-sixteen Vicky Austin, who in one summer finds out about life, death, and love. She finds herself the attention of three boys. Leo is a fried longing for more than friendship, but becoming more of a friend than ever to Vicky. Zachary is sophisticated, rich, and gorgeous to boot. However, he has a dark, maniacal side, that flirts with death. He pleads to Vicky that he needs her, but she's not so sure. Adam is a friend of her older brother John, nineteen. He's doing a project with dolphins, and Vicky is excited to help. She begins to think of Adam as more of a friend, but he just acts as though she were a child. Death seems to be erupting everywhere to Vicky. Commander Rodney, Leo's father had died, Zachary's mother died, her grandfather's health is deteriating, and an awful tragedy suddenly brings Vicky's life to a halting stop. She has held Death in her hands, literally, and her consciousness just fell apart. Only one thing can save her, the light, the ring of pure and endless light from the dolphins. This is an amazing book by Madeline L'Engle, and is one of my all-time favorites. Coming from me, that's really something. L'Engle fans are sure to love this, as well as anyone who enjoys a thoughtful, serious, well-written book. Read it!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars From a teen reader
A review from my teenage daughter:

"A Ring of Endless Light" is one of my favorite books! Read more

Published 16 months ago by Karen Edmisten

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It!!
I loved this book and I would recommend it to girls from the ages 10 and up. This was a good story to connect to your life or the lives of the people around you. Read more

Published on November 28, 2006

5.0 out of 5 stars another favorite
Once again, Madeleine L'Engle has constructed a masterpiece. All her books are superb, but this one stands out to me as my absolute favorite. Read more

Published on November 13, 2006 by Jennifer Arey

4.0 out of 5 stars A Ring of Endless Light
As always, Madeleine L'Engle delivers a stunning piece of fiction with `A Ring of Endless Light.' Although the main character, Vicky Austin, gives off a distinctive mary-sue air,... Read more

Published on May 31, 2006 by Megan

5.0 out of 5 stars A Ring of Endless Light
In Madeline L'Enlgle's A Ring of Endless Light, 15-year old Vicky goes out to visit her sick grandfather to spend some time with him. Read more

Published on March 19, 2006 by F. Truong ..... Period 1

5.0 out of 5 stars A Ring of Endless Light
"A Ring of Endless Light" by Madeleine L'Engle is a fictional, poetic story about an almost 16-year-old girl who is spending the summer with her family and Grandfather on Seven... Read more

Published on January 5, 2006

5.0 out of 5 stars A Ring of Endless Ligh
Commander Rodney is dead and Vicky Austin's friend Zachary with his suicidal
actions may be to blame. Read more

Published on November 30, 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars One the Greatest! Two Thumbs Up!
Vicky Austin is so much like me. She is caring, sweet, and at times a little overwhelmed yet she is optimistic about life. She loves to read and write, like me. Read more

Published on October 27, 2005 by Rachael

5.0 out of 5 stars My first favorite book
Of all of Mme L'Engle's glorious fiction, this book stands out in my life as my ultimate favorite. It was the first love story I read as a 12-year old and remains dear to my heart... Read more

Published on August 8, 2005 by Theresa Herbers

4.0 out of 5 stars A Differant Book
This book was much differant than I expected it to be. When my friend told me about it I figured it was just another one where the girl likes the guy and of course gets the guy in... Read more

Published on June 17, 2005 by Becca

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