For some reason I never read Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence as a child. Well, that's not entirely true--I did read the first book and possibly one of the others, as they were part of our public library's collection. I loved the first one and read it several times, and if I'd realized it was the beginning of a sequence I would have looked for the others. Anyway, I just rediscovered them, and wow! What a treat! It's always heartening to read children's literature and find it as good or often better than the junk available to adults. Reading these books was like re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia--they never fail to delight, no matter what your age. I wish the sequence were not so obviously pagan--if the author didn't insist on spelling it out I could be very happy in my ignorance--but other than that it's a terrific story with riveting characters. Now I have to get my hands on the Prydain Chronicles (Lloyd Alexander), as Odious and Jack assure me they are excellent.