SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY
After Ellen loses her home, she decides to make her way to her aunt. But she lives far away in Kentucky. All she has is the money in her pocket and a strange silver crown that was her birthday gift. But soon she realizes something strange is going on, and the crown is more than it seems.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Ellen isn't that distinctive of a character. She is likable, but I didn't feel very connected to her. Mainly because of the lack of interaction with her family. She is rather naive at first (in fact I kind of thought she was an idiot due to one thing she does) but eventually she becomes smarter and braver near the second half of the book.
Otto is a boy that was adopted by his mother. He lives in a secluded house and is very knowledgeable of the woods. He ends up being a great help to Ellen, providing food and a fire for her as well as many other talents such as discerning an animal print is actually a man's as well as finding a secret path for them to take.
Mr. Carver is a wood carver. Yes, it's not very imaginative. He lives in the woods alone, and ends up becoming an ally to the kids.
THAT WAS FAST-SPOILERS
In the beginning of the book, Ellen wakes up, gets dressed and takes her new crown to the nearby park. I am assuming this park is only five-ten minutes away (or else her parents probably would never let her go there and she wouldn't have been familiar with the way).
She plays ball for a short time, it seems like only five or so minutes. And yet when she rushes back home her entire house in engulfed in flames and everybody is presumed dead. My first thought what was, “Wow. That was fast.” It was a silly thing but it bothered me.
THE TRUTH ABOUT OTTO-SPOILERS
We get little hints that Otto might have a secret or two. But when we find out the truth it's truly bizarre. Turns out that he thinks his mom is poor and helpless so he tricks trucks of food into crashing nearby. She tries telling him that she is not his real mom but he gets too upset.
So...he is kind of mentally ill. Or else I am guessing his mom would have told him not to ever do that again and he would have been disciplined. She says leaving and living with “younger, stronger people” will help him forget her. Somehow I doubt that.
But we don't know why she doesn't simply parent him. Or why she thinks that sending him off with Ellen will help him. Yes, he does turn out to be her guide and she does completely rely on him. I got that, but I thought there needed to be a more thought out reason as to why a mother would let her child go off alone with another kid, that he just met. Especially since she seems to understand that Ellen is in danger.
MRS. FITZPATRICK
When Ellen finally tells Mrs. Fitzpatrick about her crown and how she received it, as well as what has happened to her so far, she instantly believes her. I didn't understand why.
Ellen just lost her family (if she was telling the truth, which a stranger would have no way of knowing). More likely she would believe that Ellen had been abused at her home and ran away. Then concocted a story about them all being dead, and perhaps too earnestly, threw in some details about a cult of green hoods.
But here's the real issue, when Ellen shows her crown Mrs. Fitzpatrick instantly recognizes that it's magic. Because I guess most people believe in magic, or something?
Ellen's story is backed up by the fact that a strange man shows up looking for her, and isn't very friendly. But the rest is quite unbelievable.
A LONG AGO CULT
Mrs. Fitzpatrick ends up being a teacher figure to Ellen and providing her with information about her crown and an old cult she thinks its related to. She mentions she needs a book, so we can assume she got the information from there. The problem is that all of this completely relies on coincidence. Ellen finds Otto in the woods, who takes her to his mom, who happens to have a book about a certain cult that happens to be about her crown.
It would have been better if perhaps Otto had been a classmate of hers, who had mentioned his mom was a professor of cults or something. Although being this was the 1960s and most mothers raised their own children, it would have made more sense to have his father be the one to know this.
CABIN IN THE WOODS-SPOILERS
Ellen and Otto end up meeting an older man named Mr. Carver. Turns out he lives alone with his dog. He ends up defending them from the stranger who is looking for Ellen which isn't unbelievable. After all, the man is rather aggressive and has a gun. Not exactly a father looking for his child.
But what is unbelievable is that he fully realizes that these kids are in trouble...so he sends them away. I get that he says he will guard the road so the stranger cannot come back. But wouldn't it have been wiser to tie up the stranger? Apparently he has no phone, so they cannot call the cops. And no car, so he cannot take the criminal to the cops, or the kids to escape. He could have held him there and let the kids leave. Or better yet, take the man's gun and go with the kids. He could have been a guide.
Also I thought it was strange that we heard something about a “king” and Mr. Carver's dog was named King. Couldn't the author have chosen a different name?
THE GREEN HOODS
There is some planting of an evil group in the beginning of the book. A cop that tries to bring Ellen to the local station has to chase a thief off and he happens to have a green hood. Ellen learns that a lot of crimes have been occurring lately with people wearing these hoods.
There is also another hint, as a man who tries to kidnap Ellen says something about a “king”. So we do get the feeling rather fast that something strange is going on. Just not why Ellen should be involved.
THE SECRET-SPOILERS
Eventually near the end of the book, we start learning about what is actually going on. We learn about children being brainwashed in a secret school, after they are kidnapped.
I actually thought the idea was an interesting one, and the machine that was used was original. Unfortunately is was completely overwhelmed by the cringe-inducing elements that were the methods of brainwashing. If it had just been the machine...but instead we get school lessons where children are taught to be evil by perverted fables.
THE RACE RIOTS
To put things in context, this book was originally written in the 1960s. I didn't know that when I bought it, nor when I read it. There really aren't any overt references to the time period.
Yes, there is lack of mentions of modern technology like the internet and cell phones, but Ellen is a kid. She most likely wouldn't have either of things available to her as she is on the run. Perhaps one can point to the fact that she is rather helpless though most of the time with Otto. In our modern feminist climate, this would probably never occur.
Then enter the brainwashing. We are told that many (maybe even all) of the violence and racism that is taking place now is thanks to the machine.I thought something as serious of an issue as racism and violence would be dealt with delicately, or perhaps not at all in a childrens' book. I know as a child I hated so called “educational” books where you were preached a message about some incident in the past. The author avoided being preachy...but he just came off as inappropriate. Like he was downplaying the issue and making it silly.
The villains even seem dumb, like when one says if the government restrict firearms they have to learn to use knives. Because crazy cult members bent on destruction can't break laws and just get guns illegally.
CLIMAX
Ellen attempts to rescue Otto and has to face a dangerous machine. She meets the king and learns how it works. She attempts to escape and get the crown but fails. She ends up saving the day another way.
HOW IT WORKS-SPOILERS
Ellen learns about a substance called malignite. I guess because it's malignant. It makes people easy to control for some unknown reason. We also learn about a black crown made of the stuff, that's the twin to Ellen's crown. It's tied back to the figure of St. Jerome but just in a vague way. Apparently some of his followers had cults and studied magic and stuff.
Ellen thinks that the crown is controlling the king, and the machine as well (the machine was discovered from long ago). So the material is rather magical. I do think the idea of a substance that influenced you or possessed you would be interesting to read about. Unfortunately not enough time is given to the subject and it all feels very vague.
REUNITED-SPOILERS
Ellen is told about people kept in a basement. She seems to hope they are who she thinks they are. Turns out there are her parents. Besides the fact that I never saw her parents interact with her or had any flashbacks with them, I didn't understand why Ellen thought they were alive. Why had they been kept alive?
There is no mention of them being used to blackmail Ellen into cooperating with the King. That would have made sense. Or perhaps there should have been a hint that they were alive. Like the fireman revealing that no bodies had been found yet. Or something.
TWO CROWNS
Turns out Ellen's crown is the less evil of the two. I kind of wished it had been just as evil. It would have been interesting for her to have to fight it. And to slowly realize that maybe the crown wasn't all good. Maybe something was off about it. And that would make parting with it all the more hard.
TWO ENDINGS
The book reveals two endings were made, one for the original and one for American readers (who apparently thought clarity would be needed about the crown). In the original ending, no one give any information about the crown and neither Otto nor Ellen seem to care (which feels strange, considering the danger they were both put in because of it). We simply learn that her aunt sent it to her after finding it in Spain. And she doesn't know how the cult found out about it.
In the American ending, there are six pages of information. It does say a lot about the author, that he originally didn't think he needed to explain anything. Questions are asked, like if the machine sensed Ellen, and if it wanted to destroy the other crown. We learn that the crown placed in her house by the cult members and was not from her aunt (making the coincidence of the original ending vanish). And we learn that Ellen had an unusual mind and could use the crown (explaining why the machine did not work on her) but she had to use it willingly and could not be kidnapped.
All of this is essential information and would have been great if hints had been given throughout. Like the fact that Ellen's mind was unusual; Did she have a high IQ? Was she very artistic and talented in some amazing way? Anything. Or the fact that it's mentioned the jewels glowing near the machine like it was interacting with it. It could have made Ellen wonder.
CONCLUSION
Ellen is a likable character that does develop, as she goes from a character that is naive and needs to fully rely on others, to one that ends up doing the rescuing and saving the day. But she doesn't really go through any self-doubt. Nor does she realize when she makes a mistake and chide herself, like when she trusts a stranger (in fact she keeps trusting strangers, but just gets lucky).
Otto on the other hand is the perfect guide and likable as well. But his backstory is ridiculous and is never resolved. He never realizes his mom is not his mom and admits to his past mistakes.
And the villains' plans are cheesy and based on vague concepts that we don't have time to dive into. I actually enjoyed a lot of it, even with all of these faults. Mainly because I found Ellen and Otto's journey through the woods rather interesting and well paced. It was just the cult that did me in. As well as the lack of logic and details. I give “The Silver Crown” two stars.
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