Folk Keeper - Hardcover

Billingsley, Franny

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689828764 ISBN 13: 9780689828768

Publisher: Atheneum, 1999

Synopsis

Corinna is the keeper of the gate of the world below where all the fierce folk reside, yet knowing that she is not one of the evil people, she begins to ask questions about herself in this fantastical tale for middle readers.

About this title

Review

She is never cold, she always knows exactly what time it is, and her hair grows two inches while she sleeps. Fifteen-year-old Corinna Stonewall--the only Folk Keeper in the city of Rhysbridge--sits hour after hour with the Folk in the dark, chilly cellar, "drawing off their anger as a lightning rod draws off lightning." The Folk are the fierce, wet-mouthed, cave-dwelling gremlins who sour milk, rot cabbage, and make farm animals sick. Still, they are no match for the steely, hard-hearted, vengeful orphan Corinna who prides herself in her job of feeding, distracting, and otherwise pacifying these furious, ravenous creatures. The Folk Keeper has power and independence, and that's the way she likes it.

One day, Corinna is summoned by Lord Merton to come to the vast seaside estate Cliffsend as Folk Keeper and family member--for she is the once-abandoned child he has been looking for. It is at Cliffsend that Corinna learns where her unusual powers come from, why she is drawn to the sea, and finally, what it means to be comfortable in her own skin. Written in the form of a journal, The Folk Keeper is a powerful story of a proud, ferociously self-reliant girl who breaks out of her dark, cold, narrow world into one of joy, understanding, and even the magic of romance. Franny Billingsley, author of the critically acclaimed fantasy Well Wished, has created a vividly portrayed, deliciously frightening novel that will have readers glued to the pages until the very un-bitter end. (Ages 10 and older) --Karin Snelson

From the Inside Flap

Approx. 4 hours
3 cassettes

Orphan Corinna disguises herself as a boy to pose as a Folk Keeper, one who keeps the Evil Folk at Bay. She is summoned by the dying lord of a vast estate on Cliffsend, the largest of the Northern Isles, which has miles of underground caverns populated by wild, especially savage Folk. It is on Cliffsend that Corinna comes face to face with herself and the future she will need to choose.

Edition details

• Publisher: Atheneum
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0689828764
• ISBN 13: 9780689828768
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 176
• Illustrator: Gore Leonid