The Silver Chair -- C. S. Lewis

Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole are students at Experiment House, a place where many are bullied and bullies aren't punished. After a run-in with some of the school bullies, Jill Pole hides behind a building where no one can see her cry. But Eustace happens upon her, and they begin to talk of a place quite different than Experiment House. A place Eustace has visited before where animals talk and thinks are beautiful and full of hope. Longing to go to such a place and leave the unhappiness of Experiment House behind, Eustace and Jill begin pleading to go to the other world.

And somehow, they get there! They soon learn they have been summoned to Narnia by Aslan; for Aslan has a mission for them. They are to rescue Prince Rilian, son of the aged king Caspian. Rilian disappeared years before and no one has seen or heard from him since.

So, with the help of Puddleglum, a Marsh-wiggle, Jill and Eustace set off to fulfill their mission. But the journey is long and hard, and soon the children forget their mission -- thinking only of the comforts for which they long. Forgetting proves to be to their detriment, and they find themselves on the menu for some giants' feast, held captive underground, and enchanted by an evil queen. Soon they are unsure if they will ever succeed in finding Prince Rilian -- or if they'll ever see their world again.


*Cute. I like the parallels between the novel and Christian doctrines. Look forward to reading this with my children one day.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader -- C. S. Lewis

While their brother and sister Peter and Susan are away, Edmund and Lucy find themselves back in Narnia with their whiney cousin Eustace. Their adventure starts when they manage to accidentally enter a painting in the house where they are staying, and they find themselves aboard the Dawn Treader with King Caspian and his crew aboard. Caspian and his men have set out to travel as far East as possible in order to find seven of Caspian's father's dearest friends who had been sent out years before to explore the lands, but who never returned. One of the crew on the journey is Reepicheep, a mouse who believes his destiny is to go to the end of the world.

As the Dawn Treader's occupants travel the known lands, they gain experience and knowledge. But before long, they sail off into the unknown and find many curious lands full of dragons, darkness, magic, and greed. They find that they have opportunities to grow and learn individually with the situations with which they are faced on the different lands. And each of them improves personally through the trials they face on their journey.