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Book Review: The Silver Crown by Robert C. O’Brien

The award-winning author of  Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH  wrote a book in the 1960s that is kind of a cross between a medieval fantasy and a Gothic horror novel, only it’s set in the Eastern U.S. in the 1960s, and the race riots and social unrest of that era are an element in the horror. Frightening as it is, I remember my fourth-grade teacher reading it to my class, and it still chills me to the quick at the age of 30.

It’s a pretty gripping story. Ellen Carroll, the middle child of three in an unnamed Virginia city, mysteriously receives a silver crown on her birthday which confirms what she has always thought–that she is, somehow, a queen. But while she is sitting in the park fantasizing about her castle and her kingdom, her house burns down and her family is apparently wiped out.

With only a couple of dollars and an Aunt in Kentucky to rely on, she sets off on her own and soon realizes that very dangerous people are chasing her. She gets help from an older lady, a slightly wild boy named Otto, a talking crow named Richard, and a lonely widower who carves wood for a living. But gradually she is drawn into the trap of an evil cult, a magical mind-control machine, a King who wears a black crown, and a castle containing a school that brainwashes children and turns them into terrorists. Ellen and her silver crown appear to be the only thing standing in the way of the Hieronymous Machine and its plan to enslave the whole world.

The edition that I have includes two different endings for the book, one of which was written for the British edition, the other for the American edition. The only difference really, besides the length of the last chapter, is how the silver crown appearing on Ellen’s pillow is explained. I like the shorter, British ending better. Nevertheless, I think the last few chapters seemed a bit rushed. I sensed that O’Brien was either getting sick of writing this story, or excited about the ending he had come up with, or possibly he had written himself into a corner, but one way or the other, the resolution of the story seemed kind of abrupt and perfunctory, in proportion to the pacing of the rest of the novel. It almost seemed too easy. Maybe. You tell me, if you get a chance to read it!

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A successful fantasy is inherently self-explanatory; further, it suspends disbelief without straining credulity. That Mr....

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THE SILVER CROWN

by Robert C O'Brien ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 20, 1968

A successful fantasy is inherently self-explanatory; further, it suspends disbelief without straining credulity. That Mr. Arthur's nightmare of thought control requires eight pages of explanation at the end is symptomatic of a fundamental failure--but no structure, however well conceived, can support an intricate machine made in the Middle Ages by the adherents of an obscure cult as the cause of race riots and juvenile gang fights; neither can it send the leading sorcerer, de-witched, off to the psychiatrist.... On her tenth birthday Ellen, who fancies herself a queen, finds a silver crown beside her pillow; loses her house and family in a fire; loses her policeman friend in a gunfight after he's muttered ""another green hood."" (You are now on p. 22.) The driver who's offered her a ride (to Aunt Sarah in Kentucky) turns out to have a green hood hidden in his car whereupon she runs away and he chases her scramming about ""the King."" She meets a precocious seven-year-old. Otto, who takes her home to his mother (who isn't his mother but that's another story): after hearing Ellen's tale, Mrs. Fitzpatrick senses further danger and sends Ellen and Otto on with a warning to safeguard the crown. The next ninety pages (it's a long book) chronicle their journey, stalked by a dark Stranger and assisted by a solitary sculptor (Mr. Carver), until Otto disappears inside the Black Castle and Ellen follows. This is the domain of the Hieronymous Machine, spreading evil by telepathy, and only Ellen's crown can counteract it.... The essential why Ellen is justified by developments after the fact, much of what happens to her seems, even in retrospect, unnecessarily outlandish, and the connection with actuality is crude.

Pub Date: March 20, 1968

ISBN: 0689841116

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1968

Categories: FICTION

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The Silver Crown Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of the silver crown, chapter analysis of the silver crown, plot & themes, main character, writing style, books with storylines, themes & endings like the silver crown.

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The silver crown.

Written by Robert C. O'Brien

Illustrated by David M. Bowers

The Silver Crown

Trade Paperback

LIST PRICE $8.99

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Table of Contents

About the book, about the author.

Robert C. O’Brien (1918–1973) was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Williams College and graduated from the University of Rochester. He was a writer and editor for  Newsweek ,  National Geographic , and other publications. He lived in New York City and then in Washington, DC, with his wife and four children.  Z for Zachariah —which is now a major motion picture starring Margot Robbie, Chris Pine, and Chiwetel Ejiofor—was completed by his wife and daughter, with the help of his notes, after his death. He is also the author of  Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH  and  The Silver Crown .

Product Details

• Publisher: Aladdin (October 1, 2001)
• Length: 272 pages
• ISBN13: 9780689841118
• Grades: 3 - 7
• Ages: 8 - 12

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• Age 12 and Up
• Children's Fiction > Science Fiction > General
• Children's Fiction > Action & Adventure
• Children's Fiction > Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic

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The Silver Crown Paperback – 1 October 2001

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Ellen awakens one morning with a mysterious silver crown on the pillow beside her. What magic powers it possesses she has not yet discovered, but the sudden changes in her life are unmistakable: her house is burned down, her family has disappeared, and a man in a dark uniform is stalking her. Can Ellen ever find her family? Can she use the power of the silver crown to thwart the powers of darkness? What diabolical force hides inside the mysterious castle in the woods?

• Reading age 8 - 12 years
• Print length 272 pages
• Language English
• Grade level Preschool - 2
• Lexile measure 790L
• Dimensions 13.02 x 2.54 x 19.37 cm
• Publication date 1 October 2001
• ISBN-10 0689841116
• ISBN-13 978-0689841118
• See all details

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Aladdin Paperbacks (1 October 2001)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0689841116
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0689841118
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12 years
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.02 x 2.54 x 19.37 cm
• 294 in Science Fiction for Children
• 1,891 in Fantasy & Magic for Children
• 2,538 in Action & Adventure for Children (Books)

About the author

Robert c. o'brien.

Robert C. O'Brien In real life, Robert C. O'Brien was Robert Leslie Conly. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, attended Williams College and graduated from the Universtiy of Rochester. While there he studied piano at Eastman School of Music, and at one time considered being a musician. Instead, he became an editor and writer for Newsweek magazine from 1941 to 1944, and for Pathfinder from 1946 to 1951. From 1951 until the time of his death in 1973 he was employed as a writer and editor by the National Geographic Magazine. He made his home in New York City before 1944 and in Washington, D.C. after that. He also had a home in Morgan County, West Virginia, after 1965, a place he loved and visited as often as he could. He was married and the father of one son and three daughters. His books include The Silver Crown, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, which won the Newbery Award, and A Report From Group 17. His last book, Z is for Zachariah was nearly completed at the time of his death; the last few chapters were written from notes by this wife and one of his daughters.

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Book Review: The Silver Crown

Ellen Carrol, wakes up one morning to find a silver crown on her bed, but as soon as she leaves her home, she finds that her house burns down, along with her family, and she even witnesses a murder by someone with black clothes and green shoes. Suddenly, she is on a journey to find her Aunt Sarah who is her only family left, but on the way there she escapes a kidnapper (several times), and meets an 8 year old named Otto. She then continues the rest of the journey, along with Otto, while being chased by the kidnapper (who happens to be the man with black clothes and green shoes). Otto and Ellen then find a strange place, where there Otto is taken, and Ellen is willing to risk herself to find Otto and get out of that place. But if she does, she might never be able to get out of whatever this place is, and if she doesn't she could possibly still be in danger of the kidnapper that searches for her crown, that she still has no idea why, and what it is.

This book, Silver Crown, shows a lot of mystery, and adventure which is mostly why I read this book, but it also comes with things that you think happened for this reason, but it actually was because of this reason. If you like to read adventure or mystery books, this book is the right one for you.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Bernard Malamud, “The Silver Crown”

Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) From Bernard Malamud: Novels and Stories of the 1970s & 80s

Bernard Malamud was born 109 years ago, on April 26, 1914.

When he gave talks or presented new work at readings, Malamud often spoke about how the ideas for his stories came about. He considered two types of writer—those whose works are often semi-autographical and based on life experiences and those who find inspiration in the smallest items or incidents. “The second category—sources other than oneself—will center around people whom one has observed in the world outside the family, at work or in society; people one has not become much involved with, to whom one responds as a sort of listener, if confidante is too formal a term.”

Henry James, he often noted, “much liked this sort of thing—the donnée whose kernel only he wanted to hear so that he could work out the rest.” Malamud would sometimes relate the story of how James came upon the idea for The Spoils of Poynton . He was at a dinner on Christmas Eve when, as James himself related, a woman at the table made “one of those allusions that I have always found myself recognising on the spot as ‘germs.’ . . . Most of the stories straining to shape under my hand have sprung from a single small seed.” Unfortunately for James, the woman kept elaborating and analyzing her story, and he worried to himself, “It’s the perfect little workable thing, but she’ll strangle it in the cradle, even while she pretends, all so cheeringly, to rock it.”

Malamud also found his own “données” in the smallest seeds. “The Silver Crown,” for instance, got its start from a short item in The New York Times about a rabbi under arrest for operating scam faith-healing rituals in the Bronx. We present Malamud’s tale as a Story of the Week selection, along with an introduction describing the crime behind the story, as well as how Cynthia Ozick heard Malamud debut the work at a reading—and proceeded to “steal” it from him.

Read Bernard Malamud’s “The Silver Crown”

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