The Silver Crown. Robert C OBrien

[CIareIsland]

Children’s novel 60s/70s - v dark. It has haunted me for decades - just found out the name and seen loads of reviews - anyone else remember it?

“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?”

This was one of my favourites as a child! I still have a copy upstairs.

Is it the version with this cover ?

Wasn't it Robert C O'Brian who wrote "Mrs Frisby and the Rats if NIMH"? That was superb philosophical science fiction. ❤

Just checked. Also "Z for Zachariah," which is quite feminist in its way: girl meets someone who could literally be "the last man on Earth" (and so she thinks of him as Zachariah, the alphabetical opposite of Adam, the first man.

Yes I believe so.

Thanks for the recommendation, @ClareIsland. Have ordered. Time to introduce DS to another classic...

I liked the Silver Crown but I LOVED Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh. Fantastic books.

I have that version, with that cover

Loved it. Got it out the library as a kid and it haunted me for a long time. To the extent that I bought myself a second hand copy about 10 years ago.

Oh God I loved that book, think I had it out of the school library for about 3 months on repeat (I read anything I love multiple times, my DH thinks I'm mad)

Can't remember too much about it now, but you've inspired me to go buy a copy!

Love all his books. He had an amazing imagination and way of writing

Yes, I've read it too. Mine had a different cover though.

It wasn't one of my favourites — I found it a bit too dark to be honest. I wonder if I read it a bit too young.

I have it with that cover, want to reread it now :)

I have ordered a second hand copy. I can’t remember if I enjoyed it - I do know that it stuck in my head - even though I can’t recall the plot. I was quite obsessed with the cover at the time as I thought I looked exactly like that. Seeing the cover again, 40 years later - I did indeed look exactly like that.

Thanks for the Mrs Frisbee recommendation I will order that as well.

This is the cover mine had.

I also loved this book, and have the copy with ClareIsland's cover. I first read it in primary school in the late 70s/early 80s. Haven't read it in a long time, I ought to read it again.

I have quite a few Robert C O'Brien books, and all are good. Nimh, of course, Silver Crown, Z for Zachariah, all very good.

It’s arrived with the cover I had as a child - fabulous read - complex vocabulary. Will come back with a few examples that I don’t know even now. Thanks for the recommendations for his other books - I will get DCs to read (after me!).

Thanks to this thread I ordered a copy (took a bit of searching) finished it this morning and throughly enjoyed it. There are lots of open questions though in the plot ...not saying anything here in case of spoilers!

A few things echoed with His dark materials as well...maybe just because a plucky heroine but still a few hooks

I already have a copy of a z for Zachariah and did Mrs frisby at school!

The ending was changed apparently — (trying to avoid spoilers) how she got the crown in the first place was re-written.

Rewritten in which version? I have the copy like @PolkadotsAndMoonbeams.

PM me to avoid spoilers!!!

Wikipedia says that he wrote a different ending for the UK version from the US not sure why.

I have googled now...and found YouTube of a man reading it out loud

Was the crown made out of a soft material so she could fold it and put it in her pocket? That's a memory I have which I associate with the picture on the cover but may be from a different book

@KeithLeMonde that is exactly what happens!