The Boggart

Susan Cooper's The Boggart takes a fairly mundane plot idea and enlivens it with clear, witty prose and excellent characterization. The boggart in particular benefits from Cooper's skillful pen; rather than an anonymous imp, the boggart develops a distinct personality that is freshly unique. Its memory is short, but very long; its emotions are keenly and vividly felt but are blunted by its alien perspective on the modern world. While Cooper is best known for Arthurian-based The Dark is Rising series, The Boggart handily demonstrates her facility for young-adult fiction in a less ambitious but no less enjoyable setting. A quick and easy read, The Boggart isn't likely to sleep on your shelf for long before waking and demanding to be read again.

Long before Harry Potter would have had us believe that boggarts were spirits that took the form of your darkest fears, Susan Cooper had the right idea. The author of the magnificent and accomplished, "The Dark Is Rising" series (not to be mistaken with the "His Dark Materials" series), Cooper set her sights a little younger with this loving free-flowing tale of the ultimate mischevious creature. Though relying on a couple ideas and motifs that will date this book far more than her better known series ever will, the story is a complete and wonderful accomplishment for an already accomplished artist. The Boggart is an Old Thing, from the days of dark deep magic. It cannot die and lives only to play pranks and tricks on foolish humans. For countless centuries this particular Boggart has lived in the Castle Keep on an old abandoned island off the coast of Scotland. It loves the land and the man who lives in the castle, but when the old owner dies the Boggart is forced to meet the castle's new owners. That would be Volnik clan, with children Emily and Jessup in tow. The family is Canadian and it is only through a miscalculation on the Boggart's part that they find themselves shipping the wayward spirit back to Toronto where they live. After figuring out that their house is now home to the pranks of a Scottish spirit, the kids set about finding a way to send the Boggart back to his castle and his land. Cooper's "Dark Is Rising" series always suffered a little from too many descriptions and distractions. Such is not the case here. In "The Boggart" we get to know an array of different characters exceedingly well. The children are interesting and lively without ever disintegrating into brattiness. The parents are delightfully eccentric while remaining loving and concerned. Sixteen year-old Barry (who hangs out with ten year-olds) is a bit odd, so while you feel for him you don't necessarily blame Emily and Jessup's suspicious mom. As for the Boggart itself, it encompasses everything that is wild and untamed. The Boggart is the "other", and that otherness is felt in its sublime British nature. I should note that though Cooper is English by birth, she captures perfectly the feeling Americans and Canadians have on visiting the British Isles. One would almost think she was from our side of the ocean, the way she accurately describes a Yank's reactions to the natural beauty and wonder of the Scottish land. The only flaw in the book as I see it is the use of computers. Bearing in mind that this story was published in 1993, one has to expect some problems with the plot. Therefore, hearing that a boy's new computer has a black and white screen, or the very description of its computer programs themselves, it's hard not to see that this book is rather out-of-date. Then again, given a little time this book may merely appear to be a piece of historical fiction. No harm there. The book does pull a kind of "Independence Day" scheme where two co

When the Volniks inherit an old castle that's falling down, they're all excited and never knew what was going to happen next. The Boggart is an invisible, playful spirit that has live and played tricks on the inhabitants in Castle Keep for centuries. One day he fell asleep in a desk. He got trapped because someone locked it, and Boggart's can't go through anything that has an iron lock on it. The Volnik's were bringing the desk bach with them to Canada while he was sleeping, so when he wakes up he is across the ocean from his home in Scotland. He explores the house and finds a comfortable spot to sleep in like he had at Castle Keep. He then starts his mischievous ways. Emily and Jessup realize he is there. When the Boggart tels them in Gaelic, through the computer, that he wants to go home (with thanks to their fiend Willie who read it for them), the unusual journey begins to send the Boggart back home. I really liked this book because it is funny and has a happy ending, even though a great risk had to be taken. I also liked the fact that Jessup really likes computers because I do too. I enjoyed learning the more challenging words the author used like psycokinesis and parapsychology. Psychokinesis is a force in which the mind can move physical objects. Parapsycology is the branh of psycology that investigates telepathy and extrasensory perception.

This is a page-turning book about a family who lives with a Boggart. But when he is accidentally taken from his home in Scottland, his life with a new family starts to go hay-wire. Accidents are happening all over the city and all sorts of tricks are being played. Although the Boggart is only trying to have fun some of his tricks go crazy and start to become dangerous. During this time two members of the Boggart's new family are learning about him and what he does.This book has no boring parts and is great for reading aloud to a class or to a book group. It is full of magic and adventure. It is a fantasy book that is like a comedy waiting to be read. If you have nothing to do, grab The Boggart because it is so fun you can't put it down. I would give this book five stars and I highly recommend it.

This book is perfect for the middle school fantasy lover, the sci-fi enthusiast, or someone who just wants an engaging, entertaining read for fun. The Boggart, a mischeivous but harmless spirit of the Old Magic, has been trapped in a shipment to Toronto, Canada. In the new world, his harmless pranks wreak havoc and injury to the family receiving the particular shipment. In a world that scorns magic, he longs to go home to Scotland. The only way home looks to be through a floppy disc and incredible risk.....