GLOSSARY
afterguard
Just as the front end of a ship is called the bow and the back end the stern, the front, middle and rear areas are called fore, midships and after. The afterguard is the name for the members of the crew who man the sails at the rear of the ship.
beat to quarters
A drummer beating to quarters was beating out a rhythmic tune that called the crew to their positions for battle.
belay
In sailing, to belay a line is to make it fast, usually round a cleat. In speech, “belay that” means “pay no attention,” or just “stop.”
bosun
The boatswain—bosun for short—was one of the most important members of the crew, in charge of many things, including the condition and operation of the ship’s boats, sails, rigging, anchors and cables.
bosun’s pipe
Round his neck the bosun wore a silver whistle, known always in the Royal Navy as a “call,” and for each order issued by an officer, he blew a particular sequence of notes and then shouted the order. This was then repeated throughout the ship by his assistants, the bosun’s mates, chosen from the most experienced of the seamen.
capstan
An enormous wooden cylinder, turned by seamen pushing bars that were fitted into holes in the cylinder’s top; the capstan was generally used to wind up the anchor cable when pulling up (“weighing”) the anchor.
carronade
A short-barrelled gun that fired a very heavy shot, doing enormous damage at close quarters.
cutlass
A short, wide-bladed sword used by seamen against boarders.
dry dock
An enclosed area of water in a dockyard, into which a ship can be floated and the water then pumped out, leaving the ship’s exterior dry for repairs.
flagship
A flag officer was—and is—an Admiral, Vice-Admiral, Rear-Admiral or Commodore, and his ship flies his flag of command.
fo’c’sle
Short for “forecastle,” the raised deck between the foremast and the bow.
galley
The ship’s kitchen, on the main or upper deck.
helmsman
The helm, controlled by the helmsman, moves the rudder, which steers the vessel; the helm is a wheel in a large ship, a tiller in a small sailboat.
maintopmen
The topsails are above the first sails; the topmen work them. Maintopmen work the topsails on the mainmast.
midshipman
A naval officer in training, who might be as young as 14 or as old as 40.
pike
A long wooden spear with an iron tip.
rigging
All the ropes, or lines, on a ship are known collectively as the rigging. Standing rigging supports the masts and the yards (the poles to which square sails are attached); running rigging controls the sails.
sheet
A rope attached to a sail, or to the boom along which a sail is stretched, and hauled to change the angle of the sail. In a dinghy, the mainsheet controls the mainsail, the jibsheet the jib—the smaller sail forward of the mast.
splice the mainbrace
This is the order to serve an extra ration of rum—originally a reward for seamen who had the dangerous job of repairing the mainbrace rope high above the deck.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan Cooper was born in England and was a reporter and feature writer for the Sunday Times in London before coming to live in the United States. Of her books for children, the best known are the five books in the fantasy sequence The Dark Is Rising, which have among them won a Newbery Medal, a Newbery Honor, two Carnegie Honors, and several other awards. Her book King of Shadows was also short-listed for the Carnegie Medal. Her television screenplays for adults have received two Writers Guild Awards and two Emmy nominations. Susan Cooper has two grown children and lives in Connecticut.
Aremarkable fantasy sequence by Susan Cooper, described by The Horn Book as being “as rich and eloquent as a Beethoven symphony.”
The Dark Is Rising
A Newbery Honor Book
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0-689-82983-3 (digest)
Greenwitch
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Over Sea, Under Stone
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The Grey King
Winner of the Newbery Medal
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Silver on the Tree
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The Dark Is Rising boxed set (includes all titles listed above)
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ALADDIN PAPERBACKS/SIMON & SCHUSTER CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING
www.SimonSaysKids.com
The magic continues with more fantasies from Aladdin Paperbacks
The Dragon Chronicles by Susan Fletcher
Flight of the Dragon Kyn
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Dragon’s Milk
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Sign of the Dove
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Silverwing Kenneth Oppel
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Mrs. Frisby and the
Rats of NIMH
Robert C. O’Brien
A Newbery Medal Winner
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The Chronus Chronicles
The Shadow Thieves
Anne Ursu
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May Bird and the Ever After
Jodi Lynn Anderson
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May Bird Among the Stars
Jodi Lynn Anderson
1-4169-0608-8
The Gideon Trilogy
The Time Travelers
Linda Buckley-Archer
1-4169-1526-5
Aladdin Paperbacks
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
www.SimonSaysKids.com
MORE MAGIC AND ADVENTURE DFROM SUSAN COOPER
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Aladdin Paperbacks
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
www.SimonSaysKids.com
The Newbery Medal is awarded each year to the most distinguished contribution to literature for children published in the U.S. How many of these Newbery winners, available from Aladdin and Simon Pulse, have you read?
NEWBERY MEDAL WINNERS
by Marguerite Henry
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M.C. Higgins, the Great
by Virginia Hamilton
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Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
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Call It Courage
by Armstrong Sperry
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The Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
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From the Mixed-up
Files of Mrs. Basil E.
Frankweiler
by E. L. Konigsburg
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A Gathering of Days
by Joan W. Blos
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The Grey King
by Susan Cooper
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Hitty: Her First
Hundred Years
by Rachel Field
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Mrs. Frisby and the
Rats of NIMH
by Robert C. O’Brien
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Shadow of a Bull
by Maia Wojciechowska
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Smoky the Cow Horse
by Eric P. Kelly
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The View from Saturday
by E. L. Konigsburg
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Dicey’s Song
by Cynthia Voigt
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9-81721-5
Aladdin Paperbacks • Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
www.SimonSaysKids.com
The Newbery Medal is awarded each year to the most distinguished contribution to literature for children published in the U.S. How many of these honor books, available from Aladdin Paperbacks, have you read?
NEWBERY HONOR BOOKS
The Bears on
Hemlock Mountain
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Misty of Chincoteague
by Marguerite Henry
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Calico Bush
by Rachel Field
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The Courage of Sarah
Noble
by Alice Dalgliesh
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The Dark Is Rising
by Susan Cooper
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Dogsong
by Gary Paulsen
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The Golden Fleece
by Padraic Colum
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The Moorchild
by Eloise McGraw
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Hatchet
by Gary Paulsen
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The Jazz Man
by Mary Hays Weik 0-689-71767-9
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
by Marguerite Henry 1-4169-2785-9
The Planet of Junior Brown
by Virginia Hamilton
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A String in the Harp
by Nancy Bond
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Sugaring Time
by Kathryn Lasky
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Volcano
by Patricia Lauber
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Yolonda’s Genius
by Carol Fenner
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Aladdin Paperbacks • Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing www.SimonSaysKids.com