The Tombs of Atuan

As this book begins there is no mention of our friend Ged, the wizard. The storyline tends to drag somewhat especially since everyone here is new to us. All the characters in this storyline are female save for the Male Eunuch Slaves that serve them. In the last third of the book Ged finally makes a clandestine appearance and with his departure with the child high priestess in tow the Temple of the Tombs implodes and sinks into oblivion.

Dust

Arthur Slade grew up in rural Saskatchewan and lives and writes in Saskatoon. His novel Dust is one part historical memoir of the Dust Bowl years of the depression and one part fantasy. An albino drives into town and a twelve-year-old's younger brother disappears without a trace on a walk into town with 10¢ in his pocket to buy candy. In short order it's as if the child had never existed as no mention is made of him and the brother is avoided as an uncomfortable reminder. In a household where the Bible and Pilgrims Progress are the only acceptable reading his uncle, his mother's roguish brother slips him Jules Verne Novels and Comic Books hidden under his mattress. No one but his Uncle will listen to a twelve-year-old or give his suspicions of a butterfly raising albino any credence.

The aspects of growing up in the dust bowl years are aptly written, buying the fantasy as a metaphor for sexual abuse is quite another. It does serve to keep the novel "G-rated".

A Wizard of Earthsea

The first in Ursula K. Le Guin's 5-book Earthsea Series made into a TV mini-series of the same name the books are more character driven with less emphasis on adventure, fantasy and magic. Set in an imaginary island archipelago somewhere in the Irish Sea a great deal of sailing goes on in both books and movies. The principle characters are the orphaned goatherd Ged, son of a blacksmith and Vetch, an over-weight wizard in training from a remote island village. Ged is outdone by his own curiosity, pride, and an excitable nature. His friend Vetch is more level-headed and calm though no less lacking in ability. Written long before Harry Potter appeared on the scene these books are no less  

deserving of our attention.