Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	The Lost Years of Merlin
	Author:	Barron, T.A.
	Date Published:	1996
	Genre:	Fantasy
	Grade Level:	6 - 12
	Booktalker:	Bonnie Phinney

Booktalk:
“Spat out by the sea, the boy lay on the rocks, as still as death. Even if he survived the day, he had no home. No memory. And no name!” So begins the tale of a strange young boy who washes up on the shores of ancient Wales. He is determined to find his real home and his true name. One day this boy will become the greatest wizard of all time, but he knows nothing of that now. Coming to, on the shore, the boy discovers Branwen, also washed ashore, and together they make a life for themselves. Branwen claims to be his mother, but he’s never quite sure. From her he learns many of the healing arts, along with the lore of the ancient Celts, Druids, Greeks, and Hebrews. But with all the stories Branwen tells him as he is growing up, she never tells him what he really wants to know…the secret of his identity. In an accident for which he feels responsible, the boy, now almost a young man, is blinded and scarred in a fire, while the town bully dies. His body begins to heal, but the great ache inside him won’t. He is frightened by the inexplicable powers he seems to possess and disheartened by the consequences of his actions. So, despite his youth, he decides he run away, in search of the truth of his past. Once again he voyages out to sea. Tired and hungry and nearly drowned, he once again awakes on a distant shore. He has landed on the mist-shrouded isle of Fincayra, an enchanted land Branwen had described as lying somewhere between earth and sky. The island is being destroyed by a terrible blight and the boy discovers that somehow his quest and the fate of Fincayra are intimately intertwined. There he meets the forest girl, Rhia, the brave little giant, Shim, the wicked Rhita Gawr, the evil King Stangmar, the frightening Grand Elusa, and a score of other intriguing characters. He becomes involved in a life and death adventure as he tries to find the shrouded castle, solve the riddle of the dance of the giants, and discover, once and for all, who he is, where he comes from, and where he is going. The Lost Years of Merlin, by Colorado author, T.A. Barron – the first of a trilogy chronicling the early years of Merlin.