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Watermark Teacher Feature Extra: October
31, 2006 Additional Signing Event Scheduled for T.A. Barron Friday, Nov. 3 at 5:00 p.m. - T.A. Barron initially signed on to lead our KMUW Literary Feast discussion on Friday evening. After we received many inquires from parents and young people, we asked Mr. Barron if he would arrive earlier for a separate book signing event. So now on Friday, November 3rd at 5:00 p.m., students, parents and teachers can come to Watermark to meet T. A. Barron, author of the beloved young adult series "The Lost Years of Merlin" and the trilogy "The Great Tree of Avalon." Mr. Barron will meet fans and sign copies of his newly released book The Great Tree of Avalon: The Eternal Flame. - And for your reading enjoyment, here's a review from Mark on Mr. Barron's latest book: "The Great Tree of Avalon: The Eternal Flame" by T. A. Barron (Philomel, ISBN 0399242139, $19.99) From T. A. Barron's ambitious imagination has sprung the bestselling "Great Tree of Avalon," a trilogy of young-adult novels that conjures a world populated by heroes, elves, ogres, and all the fanciful beings of high fantasy. Out of a single seed planted by the great wizard Merlin, Avalon grew into a branched and deeply rooted collection of realms that stretch to the stars, and in this third and final volume of the series, Barron chronicle's Avalon's darkest hour. Leading a cruel army and wielding a flawed but mighty magical crystal, a terrible warlord now threatens to eclipse the light of Avalon and make of it a base from which to conquer other worlds —including Earth. To stop him, three unlikely heroes must overcome frightful odds to complete quests that offer hope for Avalon's survival. The boy Tamwyn must go up the great tree itself to rekindle extinguished stars; the young priestess Elli must journey into a shadow city to crack the enemy's crystal heart; and Scree, who can be either eagle or boy, must prepare his changeling people to fight in what may be the world's last and greatest battle.Drawing on the same tradition of British fantasy that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Lloyd Alexander's "The Prydain Chronicles," Barron's "The Great Tree of Avalon" offers a heartfelt adventure story about the ability of small individuals to strive for goodness in the face of destruction, evil, and despair. In their fight to preserve Avalon from ruin, the trio of young heroes takes part in a conflict with high ecological stakes: Throughout the series, Avalon suffers from dimming stars and blighted lands; if they now fail in the last steps of their quests, the great tree will wither and die, taking them and all its many other inhabitants with it. With The Eternal Flame's climactic battles between the forces of light —allied humans, elves, and eaglefolk—and a dark assemblage of trolls, ogres, and dragons, Barron plays out the last act in a towering epic whose true message rests in the simple idea that even in the midst of a threatened, burning world, "The most powerful fires reside in the soul."Review by Mark David Bradshaw - For more information on this and other events, call Watermark Books & Cafe at (316) 682-1181 or visit our website at www.watermarkbooks.com.Hope to see you there. Beth
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