The Dragonfly Pool

The Dragonfly Pool is a children's novel by award-winning author Eva Ibbotson. It is illustrated by Kevin Hawkes.

The Dragonfly Pool
AuthorEva Ibbotson
IllustratorKevin Hawkes
LanguageEnglish
SeriesNone
SubjectWorld war 2
GenreFantasy
PublisherDutton Juvenile
Publication date
4 September 2008
Pages416
ISBN0-525-42064-9

In a foreword to the book, Ibbotson writes that the school featured in the novel is based on her own experience at Dartington Hall, a progressive school in Devon. The inspirational biology teacher, Matteo, is based on David Lack, the ornithologist, who did a lot of his early research on robins with the help of his pupils [1]

Plot

Talitha ('Tally') Hamilton is the daughter of the town's beloved doctor. Tally loves her life; she gets along with everyone. Following the outbreak of World War II, Tally is very upset to learn she will be sent to an English boarding school, Delderton, but does so at the request of her father. When Tally arrives at Delderton, she soon discovers that this school is like no other: the dancing teacher encourages them to be seeds busting into light, and the enigmatic biology teacher Matteo takes them for study walks at four in the morning. Tally soon settles in and makes plenty of friends, even organising a trip for her friends to attend a dancing festival in Bergania.

Meanwhile, Prince Karil of Bergania is a lonely boy who wants to be normal and have friends. He hates wearing stuffy suits and attending so many formal celebrations. When Karil meets Tally at the Dragonfly Pool, his place of comfort and peace, the two immediately become friends. But when Karil's father the King is assassinated, Karil is forced to flee with Tally and the others to England. The King's assassination is revealed to have been planned by the Germans, and they invade and overtake Bergania.

The group of dancers quickly disguise Karil as part of the team in order to protect him, and take him back to school with them. On their journey, they fight off numerous attempts to capture Karil, but manage to get away. When they eventually reach England, Karil is taken into the care of his grandfather.

gollark: Yes they are.
gollark: They shouldn't control what devices you use with said limited access.
gollark: You're basically paying for limited access to their network.
gollark: They're not really the same.
gollark: Yes. And if you don't buy it, no tethering.

References
  1. Ted R. Anderson - The Life of David Lack, Oxford Press 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.