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Encyclopedia > A Ring of Endless Light
A Ring of Endless Light

A Ring of Endless Light, first edition
Author Madeleine L'Engle
Cover artist Fred Marcellino (hardback)
Country United States
Language English
Series Austin family
Subject(s) love, death, growing up
Genre(s) Young Adult
Publisher Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Publication date 1980
Media type Print (Hardback)
Pages 324 pp
ISBN ISBN 0-374-36299-8
Preceded by The Young Unicorns
Followed by Troubling a Star

A Ring of Endless Light is a 1980 novel by Madeleine L'Engle. The book tells of a girl named Vicky and her struggle to understand life as she deals with her dying grandfather, while at the same time finding love. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Madeleine LEngle (born November 29, 1918) is an American writer best known for her childrens books, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and Many Waters. ... In political geography and international politics a country is a geographical entity, a territory, most commonly associated with the notions of state or nation. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... Farrar, Straus and Giroux is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger W. Straus, Jr. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) book is bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth or heavy paper) and a stitched spine. ... ISBN-13 represented as EAN-13 bar code (in this case ISBN 978-3-16-148410-0) The International Standard Book Number, ISBN, is a unique[1] commercial book identifier barcode. ... The Young Unicorns (1968, ISBN 0-374-38778-8) is the title of a young adult suspense novel by Madeleine LEngle. ... Troubling a Star is the last of the Austin family series by Madeleine LEngle, published in 1994. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... Madeleine LEngle (born November 29, 1918) is an American writer best known for her childrens books, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and Many Waters. ...

Contents

Plot Summary

Fifteen year old Vicky Austin is spending the summer on Seven Bay Island with her family to visit her maternal grandfather who is dying of Leukemia. At the beginning of the story, Vicky is seen standing at a funeral for Commander Rodney, a family friend. Nearby stands the commander's wife, and his two oldest sons, Leo and Jacky who own a launch boat business. It is at the funeral that Vicky first meets Adam Eddington, an intern at the Island's research base and a friend of Vicky's brother, John. When Vicky and her family return home she sees Zachary Gray, an old friend whom her family does not particularly like. It was Zachary who had indirectly caused Commander Rodney's death; the commander had gotten a heart attack while saving Zachary from a suicide attempt. The news of this sets Vicky on a train of thought that continues throughout the book; the mysterious and (to Vicky) frightening topic of death. This article is about the domestic group. ... Leukemia or leukaemia (see spelling differences) is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation (production by multiplication) of blood cells, usually white blood cells (leukocytes). ... Suicide (Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of intentionally taking ones own life. ...


During the course of the story, Vicky finds herself in a tangle of three romances; one with Leo, one with Zachary, and one with Adam, whom she is helping with a project on dolphin and human communication (ESP) with three dolphins: Basil, Norberta, and Njord. Vicky discovers a remarkable rapport with the dolphins, a rapport that teeters on telepathy. Also, her grandfather has been hemorrhaging, and Vicky often goes with Leo to pick up blood. There at the hospital, she meets a girl named Binnie who is sick with a type of leukemia and has seizures. Genera See article below. ... Extra-sensory perception (ESP) is defined in parapsychology as the ability to aquire information by paranormal means. ... Leukemia or leukaemia (see spelling differences) is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation (production by multiplication) of blood cells, usually white blood cells (leukocytes). ...


One night, her grandfather starts to hemorrhage and is sent to the hospital. Vicky is on a date with Zachary, and does not know about her grandfather until they come to the dock and see that Leo is not there to pick them up. Once in the hospital, Vicky waits in the emergency room and sees Binnie. Binnie has just fainted because she had a seizure, and is thrust into Vicky's arms as Binnie's mother goes to find a nurse. In Vicky's arms, Binnie has a convulsion and dies. At that moment, she is sent into a wave of darkness, wherein she is trying to hold on to the real world, learning that Zachary left her alone in the hospital, and constantly thinking of Adam. At that moment she feels hands on hers - Adam's. He tells her that she "called" him (meaning with ESP) and he came. During the next day, Vicky is still in a wave of darkness, and no one seems able to get her out. Finally, Adam has an idea. He takes her to the dolphins she works with, and she plays with them, breaking the darkness. At the end of the story, Vicky finally finds refuge in Adam's arms. This article is about the medical condition. ...


Major themes

The primary theme of the story is death, and continuing to appreciate and choose life in the face of it. Vicki is surrounded by death during the summer of the story, and the people around her have their own responses to it as well. Slowly dying from leukemia, Grandfather Eaton encourages Vicky to enjoy life while developing her talent for writing, and only gradually begins to make unreasonable demands as his own mental clarity starts to fail. Having lost his father, Leo Rodney questions his previously comfortable faith, while taking responsibility for the family's income. Zachary, whose mother died recently, alternately courts death - driving too fast, flying recklessly in a plane - and runs away from it. Adam, who holds himself responsible for the death of Joshua Archer the previous summer (in The Arm of the Starfish) because he trusted a girl, is reluctant to open his heart and risk being hurt again. In addition to the deaths of Commander Rodney and Binnie and the impending death of her grandfather, Vicky meets a dolphin researcher who nearly dies in an accident, sees a dolphin swim with her dead baby, and even worries about baby swallows in a shallow, ill-placed nest. The Arm of the Starfish is a novel by Madeleine LEngle, first published in 1965. ...


Series notes

paperback cover art by Dave Henderson

This is the fourth full-length novel about Vicky and her family, continuing a series that began in 1960 with Meet the Austins. (There are also two shorter works that each take place at Christmas time.) Vicky first meets Zachary in the second novel, The Moon by Night, as he follows her from campgound to campground on a cross-country trip. In the next book, The Young Unicorns, Zachary is mentioned only in passing. Concurrent with The Moon by Night is The Arm of the Starfish, a book from the O'Keefe family series that takes place the same summer as the Austins' camping trip. The Arm of the Starfish introduces as its protagonist Adam Eddington. Adam continues his relationship with Vicky Austin in the sixth (and to date, final) Austin family novel, Troubling a Star. Image File history File links Ring of Endless Light book cover This image is a book cover. ... Image File history File links Ring of Endless Light book cover This image is a book cover. ... Meet the Austins is the title of a 1960 novel by Madeline LEngle, the first of her books about the Austin family. ... The Moon by Night (ISBN 0-374-35049-3) is the title of a young adult novel by Madeleine LEngle. ... The Young Unicorns (1968, ISBN 0-374-38778-8) is the title of a young adult suspense novel by Madeleine LEngle. ... The Moon by Night (ISBN 0-374-35049-3) is the title of a young adult novel by Madeleine LEngle. ... Troubling a Star is the last of the Austin family series by Madeleine LEngle, published in 1994. ...

Awards and honors

A Ring of Endless Light was named Newbery Honor Book in 1980, and was nominated for a Newbery Medal in 1981. It also won the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award, American Book Award, the California Young Reader Medal (1982) and the Colorado Children's Book Award (1983).[1] The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children of the American Library Association (ALA) to the author of the outstanding American book for children. ... The Dorothy Canfield Fisher Childrens Book Award is an annual award for new American Childrens books, given in Vermont and named after Vermont author Dorothy Canfield Fisher. ...


TV movie

In 2002, the Disney Channel made A Ring of Endless Light into a made-for-TV movie starring Mischa Barton and Ryan Merriman. The film's plot veered substantially from that of the book. Vicky's parents are conveniently absent for much of the movie. Vicky's astronomy-minded elder brother John is not mentioned, and Suzy is interested in astronomy instead of medicine. Grandfather Eaton's illness is undisclosed at first (instead of being the reason the family is spending the summer with him). Other examples of death and dying are absent entirely from the movie, along with such characters as Leo Rodney and his family, and the dying child Binnie. Whole-cloth additions to the story include Adam and Zachary teaming up to save dolphins from illegal drift nets, and Vicky being under pressure to study science in order to gain permission to an elite school. For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... For the Disney Channel in other countries, see Disney Channel around the world. ... A Ring of Endless Light is a 2002 Disney Channel Original Movie, based on the novel by Madeleine LEngle. ... Mischa Anne Marsden Barton (born January 24, 1986) is an English-born American actress and fashion model, best known for her role as Marissa Cooper on the former Fox television teen drama series // Mischa was born in Hammersmith, London, England, to an English father, Paul Marsden Barton, and an Irish... Ryan Earl Merriman (born April 10, 1983) is an American actor. ... Look up plot in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A giant Hubble mosaic of the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant Astronomy is the science of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earths atmosphere (such as auroras and cosmic background radiation). ... medicines, see medication and pharmacology. ...


References

  1. ^ Chase, Carole F. (1998). Suncatcher: A Study of Madeleine L'Engle and Her Writing. Innisfree Press, Inc., pg. 171. ISBN 1-880913-31-3. 

External links

Written by Madeleine L'Engle
Time Quartet: A Wrinkle in Time | A Wind in the Door | Many Waters | A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Polly O'Keefe series: The Arm of the Starfish | Dragons in the Waters | A House Like a Lotus | An Acceptable Time
Austin family series: Meet the Austins | The Moon by Night | The Young Unicorns | A Ring of Endless Light | Troubling a Star | A Severed Wasp | The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas | A Full House: An Austin Family Christmas
Katherine Forrester series:
Camilla Dickinson series:
The Small Rain | A Severed Wasp | Camilla Dickinson | A Live Coal in the Sea
Other fiction: Ilsa | And Both Were Young | The Other Side of the Sun
TV Adaptations based on L'Engle's work: A Wrinkle in Time | A Ring of Endless Light
Characters: Meg Murry | Charles Wallace Murry | Calvin O'Keefe | Sandy and Dennys Murry
Polly O'Keefe | Vicky Austin | Canon Tallis | Adam Eddington | Zachary Gray
Major characters in the works of Madeleine L'Engle
Other: Places in the works of Madeleine L'Engle | Kything | Echthroi | Hugh Franklin

  Results from FactBites:
 
A Ring of Endless Light - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (114 words)
A Ring of Endless Light is a novel by Madeleine L'Engle.
The book tells of a girl, Vicky, and her struggle to understand life as she deals with her dying grandfather, while at the same time finding love.
In 2002, the Disney Channel made A Ring of Endless Light into a made-for-TV movie, with Mischa Barton starring as Vicky.
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

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