Laurel's Miracle

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Laurel's Miracle

The Cornwall Adventures Series

A Novel by: Nancy Marie Bell

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

RATING: L=0    S=0    V=0

Release: September 30, 2011

Editor: Antonia Tiranth

Line editor: Penny Ehrenkranz

Cover artist: Kaytalin Platt

Words: 93154

Pages: 237

ISBN: 978-1-927085-67-7

Price: $5.95

Blurb:

Have you ever wondered how you would handle it if your mom was terminally ill?  What if you were sent to stay with people you didn't even know in another country because your father was at the hospital all day and night?

Laurel is faced with both of these realities, what she really wants is a miracle.  She wants her mom to be cured of cancer.

Join Laurel as she searches for her miracle amidst the magic of the Cornish countryside.  She is aided by her new friends Coll, Gort, and Aisling and helped along in her quest by the creatures of legend and myth.  Vear Du, the Selkie, Gwin Scawen, the Cornish Piskie, Belerion the fire salamander, Morgawr the flying sea serpent who does Vear Du a favour, and Cormoran, the last giant of Cornwall.  They must battle the odds in the form of bullies and confusing clues. Will they emerge victorious?  Will Laurel have the courage to solve the riddle and make her miracle a reality?

Find the answers in the pages of Laurel's Miracle.

Excerpt:

Laurel sat on Lamorna and gazed across the moor as it ran toward the sea.  It was so much like her beloved Alberta prairie, except the prairie ran to the mountains.  Like the sea, the mountains had a power and life of their own; they were, after all, the bones of the earth.   The pony lowered her nose to the grass and took advantage of her rider’s preoccupation with the country before her.  This is Arthur’s land, she remembered Sarie telling her, echoing what Coll said earlier in the day, but it belonged to itself long before Arthur was born.

Laurel liked the idea of that. The country stretching before her seemed to shimmer with a life force which had nothing to do with what humans did or did not do to it.  She tugged gently on the reins and pulled the pony’s head out of grass. The wind coming across the moor from the sea carried music with it. It wasn’t a familiar music, but she seemed to follow the notes all the same.  It was a mixture of old cowboy songs sung around the campfire to keep the night at bay. It carried the shiver of mystery from the ancient stone works dotting the Cornish peninsula.  There was fiddle and harp and drum and guitar and harmonica. The music called up bird song, the voice of the sea, and the bass voice of the rock itself that held up the land. She could hear the reverberating sound of the bells in the lost land of Lyonnesse out past Land’s End.  She could hear words that were somehow inside her head and also part of the wind. The sound vibrated through the pony’s hooves and into Laurel.

“The land lies dreaming under the sun,

So much different it is,

So much the same it is.

All things are one when the day is won.”

“Come and get some grub!” Coll’s voice broke through her reverie.

Laurel slid down from Lamorna’s broad back and led her over to the other ponies.  She removed Lamorna’s bridle, slipped on her head collar and left her with the other ponies to graze. She dropped down onto the grassy turf and took a ham sandwich from the pile Aisling set out. Everyone was silent while they devoured the sandwiches and cookies, which they washed down with sweet tea.

Once they were full, Laurel pulled the little book about the dragon line out of the waistband of her jeans.  She handed it to Coll, who looked at it in surprise.

“Where did you find this?”

“Ash and I found it yesterday on Sarie’s book shelf.  I read it last night, and I think it confirms what you said about the dragon line cutting across Cornwall. See what you think.”

Coll skimmed through the pages and whistled softly between his teeth.  He handed the book to Gort who took it eagerly.

“It does seem to agree with what we found out yesterday,” Gort said.

“I think so, too,” Coll said.

The group was silent for a time; each following their own line of thinking with regard to the book and the dragon line.

Finally, Coll got to his feet and stretched. “We should get a move on if we want to be back before dark.” He moved over to the ponies to bridle Arthur.

The girls collected the bits of litter and the remains of their lunch, stuffing them back into the saddlebags.  In just a few minutes, they were all headed down the track back toward home.  The sun was warm on Laurel’s back making her sleepy.

“Let’s trot!” She set off at a brisk pace with the wind at her back.  The others followed suit, and soon Laurel forgot about riddles and her mom’s cancer. She soaked in the feel of Lamorna underneath her and the sound of all the ponies’ hooves drumming the soft earth.  The wind lifted her hair and tossed it forward over her face. The ponies’ tails and manes were black streamers ribboning in the shifting currents.

She laughed in exhilaration. All the ponies quickened their pace until they were cantering down the track two abreast.  In no time at all, they were at Sarie’s gate and turning down her lane.  Sarie came out of the cottage to meet them as they trooped past the kitchen.

“I was starting to worry you wouldn’t get home before full dark,” Sarie said as she opened the gate to the pony field for them.

Laurel glanced at the dusky sky. “We went a little further than we planned.”

Reviews:

Once again Ms. Bell has rendered the imagery of her setting beautifully, and furthermore, I was literally spellbound by the smashing climax and finish! Bravo! - 5STAR Barnes&Noble Reader Review...READ FULL REVIEW

What I enjoyed most about this mid-grade fantasy was the author's descriptions of the Cornwall area. Clearly, she's been there and really brought the area to life in the book. 4STAR REVIEW-MARVA DASEF...READ FULL REVIEW

A page turner! I really enjoyed reading this book, I was almost sad when I got to the last page. 5STAR REVIEW-ELANTA...READ FULL REVIEW

Laurel's Miracle is full of beautiful images: of the strange fairy folk, the Lady of the Lake, crystal horses and the labyrinth inside the Tor of Avalon. The touching sentiment of faith, hope, kindness and secrets revealed, reinforces the truth: there is magic in friendship. 5STAR REVIEW-CALAMITY...READ FULL REVIEW

MEET THE AUTHOR

Customer Reviews:

Laurel's Miracle was written for the young...but I say it is ALSO for those of us who enjoy a good story that will remind us of how wonderful it can be to be young at heart..rnrnMagic, sacrifice, soul abiding love, loyalty, and the core of the earth we all walk upon draw us into this story and hold us tightly as the story unfolds before our questing eyes.rnrnLaurel is on a journey to find a way to save her mother dying from cancer...she's joined by her three new friends and creatures you heard about in tales of ancient myth and legends.rnrnNo matter how old we get, we all need magic in our lives...and this book expertly written by Ms. Bell delivers magic, wonder, and all the best emotions we can find in the deepest places in our hearts and souls.rnrnI highly recommend this for the young and the young at heart. you won't be disappointed...AND this is JUST the beginning of Ms. Bell's Magical tales. rn

rnA Fantasy to Restore Faith in Reality.rnrnLaurel’s Miracle is the type of story to hold a child spellbound; the type I loved to read. rnrnFinding a miracle cure for her mother who is battling cancer is an impossible task for thirteen-year old Laurel from Alberta, Canada. This seems even more remote when her parents send her to stay with a family friend in Cornwall, UK. Laurel feels lonely and rejected. Time is running out, and without a miracle, Laurel is worried her mother might die before she gets to see her again.rnrnSet in the rugged beauty of the Cornish countryside, rich in myth and legend, Laurel’s Miracle takes us on a magical journey. The scenery is so vivid, and the new relationships so fascinating, it is easy to imagine oneself walking with Laurel as part of her group and becoming immersed in her adventure. rnrnLaurel has a plucky, endearing nature and the other characters, both young and old, are well rounded. All are caught in their own controversies which make them unique and interesting. With three young friends, who selflessly put their own problems aside for her sake, Laurel endeavours to solve the riddles she receives from the fairy-folk who guide her in her mission to find her miracle.rnrnThe relationship of this group of four children is Blytonesque, but Nancy Bell adds richness beyond Enid Blyton with the deeper layers of supernatural and magical themes. Laurel’s Miracle glows with the power of the Earth’s energy, or ley lines, Laurel follows in her quest, with an ease children can relate to. rnrnLaurel’s Miracle is full of beautiful images: of the strange fairy folk, the Lady of the Lake, crystal horses and the labyrinth inside the Tor of Avalon. The touching sentiment of faith, hope, kindness and secrets revealed, reinforces the truth: there is magic in friendship. rn

What I enjoyed most about this mid-grade fantasy was the author's descriptions of the Cornwall area. Clearly, she's been there and really brought the area to life in the book.rnrnNext, the four children are well-drawn and distinctive. No generic kid, kid, kid, but four different and recognizable personalities. Ms. Bell gave me just enough of the dialect flavor to hear it in my mind (I filled in with my own trip to England). Gort, Aisling, and Col are all wonderful characters, and the "foreigner," Laurel is lucky to have them on her side.rnrnThe essence of the story is that Laurel has been sent to England while her mother is dying of terminal cancer. It seems a cruel thing to do to a child and a little weak on explanation of why she'd be sent clear to England from the Canadian prairies. This isn't clarified until an appendix containing letters from Laurel's grandmother to Sarie, the Cornish woman who takes Laurel in. rnrnBut whatever the reasons, it comes down to Laurel needing to be in Cornwall because she's got a quest. No, she's not a chosen one, but a young girl desperately trying to save her mother's life. Only in Cornwall, with its legendary characters like piskies (pixies) and selkies (a seal-person). To say why it's important for Laurel to be where she is would be giving away a bit too much plot, so I'll leave it at that.rnrnThis book is longish for a middle-grade read, but I hope that won't put off parents buying ebooks for their children's Christmas present: an ereader, of course. The book will be released in print format, but there's no need to wait.rnrnEnjoyable read full of Cornish lore. I liked it.

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