Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper

This book is the first in The Dark is Rising series, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Simon, Jane, and Barney are visiting their Great-Uncle Merry in Cornwall when they discover an ancient parchment from King Arthur's time. It turns out that this parchment contains directions to find a holy grail, a large cup with powerful magic. The children discover that good and evil forces have been battling for centuries, and this grail may give evil the power to defeat good. The children are in a race to find the holy grail before the evil forces are able to stop them. However, it's sometimes difficult to tell good from evil.

The characters are developed well, and the secret evil characters help add to the suspense. The clues on the parchment are challenging but aren't mind busters. They were very understandable to me as a reader, unlike some of the newer novels. Also, everything the children were able to do was realistic. There was nothing super-magical in this book, but the sequels offer more of that.