And my lord was she right.
The series that she had introduced to me was Fablehaven, a tale of two siblings, Kendra and Seth, going to spend some time on their grandparents estate. This "estate" turns out to be a sanctuary for mythical creatures of all shapes and sizes. But there's a catch. These creatures are not visible to normal human eye. There are a select few who see them but most people have to drink a certain type of milk to see the world that lies just beneath our own.
This plays into the fact that fairy tales, or just tales in general, look for the extraordinary in the ordinary. And to find the other worldly we must actively seek it out. When Kendra and Seth first arrive at the estate their grandfather gives Kendra a set of keys. These keys would eventually lead Kendra to find the message "Drink the milk." After she (and Seth) taste the milk and see for themselves the magic that was all around them they find out that their grandfather and wanted them to find out the true meaning of the estate. This shocks the children as since they arrived their grandfather had been very strict and closed off. After vaguely informing the children about the purposes and need for these "preserves" he tells them that a special night is coming up where the creatures of the preserve are allowed to roam free instead of being trapped in their designated areas. So this night rolls around and a mistake caused by Kendra and Seth allows dark creatures into the house. They hide out in their attic bedroom until the night passes and when they venture downstairs in the morning they find the house destroyed and that their grandfather and the others who live on the preserve are missing. To try and make up for their qualms Kendra and Seth venture out into the unknown of the forest.
Kendra and Seth go on an adventure of sorts and know absolutely nothing of the place they are going or even what they are supposed to do. This plays into the post-modernistic ideal. I am a big fan of diving into the unknown. I firmly believe that there is always something I don't know. Which Kendra and Seth quickly learn when they are shown this new world.
Kendra and Seth also show two very different approaches to life. Kendra is someone who lives by rules constantly. She believes that being passive is the option you should always take. That life will eventually reveal itself to you. This is her biggest strength and biggest weakness. Her being passive saves her from being attacked in the final of the first book (sorry spoilers). But her being passive is also what allowed Seth to open the window to let in the dark creatures. She does develop throughout the series to become more active. She becomes fed up with waiting to be spoon fed information and starts to actively seek out what will save her family, friends, herself, and eventually the world. But you can still see her passive nature. She hesitates before she does anything. She waits to learn as much as she can before taking any action unless she's forced to do otherwise.
Seth on the other hand is a natural rule breaker. This may seem like a bad thing at first but it actually ends up helping him a lot in the end. He is very active in his approach to life. Always doing first and asking questions later. If he wasn't active then he and Kendra would've just waited at the house to see if their grandfather would ever return. It's because Seth took charge that they made any progress at all. Seth is also naturally adventurous; going places he probably shouldn't. This leads to him becoming a shadow charmer (the opposite of his sister who becomes fairystruck at the end of book one, sorry I'm spoiling the whole thing).
Now before I spoil the whole series let me make my point. This series to me is a perfect example of post-modern ideas. The main characters go through all of these events knowing basically nothing about the world they are running around in. And most of the time they're okay with that. They of course want to learn all they can but they also know they will never know everything. Kendra and Seth (and sometimes even the other characters) are totally aware that they know next to nothing about what they are dealing with and that they're kind of going in blind. But they must tread on anyway. They find that sitting around acting very secure that you know all there is to know doesn't really turn out well in the end (see the Sphinx in the series as an example). They know that they don't know. And thats awesome.
Let me end with my favorite quote from the series (and of all time): "The questions that start with why are the hardest to answer. We end up guessing more than knowing."
Sorry for rambling. Carry on.
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