The Lightning Time Author:Gregory Maguire Daniel sees the first bolt of lightning out of the window of a northbound Greyhound bus. But even an imagination as active as Daniel's doesn't guess the magic that the unusual lightning heralds. — For the time being, Daniel has other things on his mind. His mother is in the hospital waiting to undergo surgery, and his father has... more » shipped him off to visit a dimly remembered grandmother in the small town of Canaan Lake, in the Adirondacks. Daniel is certain that his grandmother will live up to his stereotype of a sugar-cookie-baking grandma, who will be as disappointed in her grandson as everyone else seems to be, and that Canaan Lake will be boring to a boy who has spent his whole twelve years in New York City.
His meeting with his sturdy, independent, and likable grandmother is a surprise; so is meeting a hitherto unknown cousin, Carrie, a girl his own age who becomes his friend as well as his guide to the pleasures of Canaan Lake. It is Carrie who leads him up Saltbook Mountain at midnight to witness the magical dance of the wild creatures of the mountain that the lightning signals.
Daniel's participation in the magic begins as joyous celebration of his growing awareness of the life of the mountain and his own part in it. Too soon, the joy is shadowed as the mysterious Mr. Spurr threatens first the mountain and then Daniel himself.« less