Midwinter Nightingale

by Joan Aiken

Book Overview

Dido and Simon are in danger in this new addition to the Wolves Chronicles. Dido, back in England from America, is almost instantly kidnapped and taken to a derelict mansion surrounded by a deadly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385730810
• ISBN13: 9780385730815
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.6" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 10 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 7

Customer Reviews

Midwinter Nightingale

Midwinter Nightingale By: Joan Aiken " What? Where am I? And my keys-where are the keys of the palace?" wailed the king. The king is becoming sicker and sicker each day, and the enemy grows ever closer. How much longer does King Richard have before he goes to live among the angels? King Richard goes missing just before Dido Twite comes back from America. She is a good friend of Simon Bakerloo, the duke of Battersea, who is also gone missing. Not only does the king's archbishop believe that Dido knows where the two are, but the Duchess of Burgundy thinks so too. As soon as Dido is finished being questioned by the archbishop, she is kidnapped and taken to an old school that is being used as the Burgundian's headquarters. While Dido is trying to stay alive and find a way out of the dreadful place, Simon is struggling to keep the king alive long enough so that he can find King Alfred's headpiece. He already knows that the king`s, "Cousin Dick," days are numbered, so Simon is trying to find King Alfred's headpiece, so that he can finish the coronet ceremony which is the passing of the headpiece to the new king. Dido escapes the school and meets up with Simon and his faithful herd of animals, a flock of sheep and two bears accidentally imported from Russia. Together they are able to get the king and themselves to safety and perform the coronet ceremony just minutes before the king dies. Luckily for the king, he was able to hear the nightingales sing one last time efore he passed away. This was a good book, but it was a little confusing at times. The setting is in England, so the characters talked like the English do. I would recommend this book to all who love to read an exciting mystery. English people talk different from Americans, so some words were confusing, but it got the reader into the book because by reading the dialogue, it felt like the person was talking to you. Just before the king died, he met and talked to an old friend. He said, "`Sir Thomas Coldace?' he whispered. `Nay, he's no stranger. I ken him well. I'd like tae see the callant!'" Another English use of a word was how the used "Ay" before beginning a sentence, like Americans use hey. Another example of how confusing the dialogue became was when Simon was talking to the king and he replied, "'Och, aye, so tis. Lucy who scarce seven hours herself unveils.'" This book was somewhat disturbing in the horrible ways the people were killed. One man who refused to tell the duchess where the king was hiding was stuffed into a tiny crate, starved for several days, and then thrown into a moat full of crocodiles. Another gruesome death was when Lot's father who had just gotten out of prison was killed my molten silver. His own daughter set fire to the school. Then the bags of silver were melted down and were poured onto Magnus as he tried to climb the ladder. The most horrific death was when lot killed his own sister. He was trying to kill Simon, but he moved out of the way, and Lot's s

Dido Twite is here!

Dido Twite has just returned to England, from a visit to Nantucket, and a chilling welcome greets her. She is captured and imprisoned by Baron Rudh (werewolf), his awful son Lot, and the evil Duchess of Burgundy. Her captors hope that she will lead them to Simon Battersea (6th Duke of Battersea) and King Richard, who is on his deathbed. The bad trio plan to put Lot on the throne. Meanwhile, Simon is struggling to hide King Richard, in the flooded wetlands (where the Burgundians are planning to invade). Simon also has to find the ancient coronet, but is hampered by the boring Jorinda, a flock of sheep, Russian Bears, and the United Real Saxon Army, who do not fight. Who will be the King? A thrilling novel, by Joan Aiken, that makes you want to read it.

Continuing Excellence

I loved Joan Aiken's series, starting with the Wolves of Willoughby Chase, when I was a child, and now at 36 they still have just as much ability to charm me. This latest in the installment had enough excitement and humor to keep me reading cover to cover in one sitting. At first I thought she might have gone too far in this story line-werewolves after all! (though I suppose after the Stolen Lake anything was possible), but Aiken carried it off admirably. I was a bit disappointed by the ending though. I suppose I was hoping she might wrap up the story, not because I want the series to end (I wish it could go on forever), but because Aiken is 80 after all and I hope she ties up loose ends before she dies. I hope she's working on the next one!

Dido Twite is back...as sassy as ever

Who needs Harry Potter when you can thrill to the adventures of Dido Twite, the indefatigable Cockney heroine of Joan Aiken's Wolves Chronicles? In this latest installment, Dido is back in England during the (fictional) reign of King Richard IV, just in time to help save the throne from the loutish son of a werewolf baron. Yes, the plot sounds outrageous, and perhaps it is--but the story is so fast-paced, the narrative so vivid and yet so concise, and the characters so charismatic that even the most literal-minded reader (youngster or adult) is unlikely to care. For fans of Aiken's entire series, which begins with "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" and includes "Black Hearts in Battersea," "Nightbirds on Nantucket," and "The Cuckoo Tree" (one of my favorites), one of the most rewarding aspects of "Midwinter Nightingale" is Dido's reunion with her mate Simon--and the bittersweet yet open-ended way Aiken closes the book. Surely another episode is in the works?