The Young Unicorns
Encyclopedia
The Young Unicorns is the title of a young adult
suspense novel
by Madeleine L'Engle
. It is the third novel about the Austin family, taking place between the events of The Moon by Night
(1963
) and A Ring of Endless Light
(1980
). Unlike those two novels and Meet the Austins
(1960
), it does not center on Vicky Austin
specifically, but on a family friend, Josiah "Dave" Davidson.
apartment after the events of The Moon by Night, and made some friends; blind young pianist Emily Gregory and Josiah "Dave" Davidson, who helps Emily get around. Emily is studying under the tutelage of the passionate, leonine Emmanuel Theotocopulous, better known as Mr. Theo. Canon Tallis
, newly arrived at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine after the events of The Arm of the Starfish
, meets the Austin children and their friends just as they encounter an anachronistic Genie
in a junk shop. Tallis advises and helps to protect the children as they are drawn into a mystery involving the Genie, a street gang called the Alphabats, and the local bishop
's strange behavior.
Dave is skeptical of the Genie, as is Suzy Austin, but the others are not sure. Centralized, single-minded activity on the part of the criminal Alphabats excites the suspicion of Canon Tallis, who interrogates Dave and Dr. Wallace Austin. Dr. Austin has been working on the creation and perfection of a laser
-based Micro-Ray, which is so unerringly precise that it may do more than simply penetrate the corporeal. Dave was once a member of the Alphabats, but has turned from their ways. He is in denial of his past, not even talking about it. Tension builds as the 'Bats try to draw Dave into their new mischief, whose mastermind is none other than the Bishop himself. The Genie appears to be the bishop's servant, and also appears to possess a Micro-Ray.
It is revealed that the bishop has given up hope
for the world; that he hopes to establish a state of control over humanity
, whereby he may prevent anything he deems detrimental to its success. His Genie, Hythloday
, uses the Micro-Ray to control the Alphabats. A concentrated beam from it stimulates the brain
's pleasure
center, giving the victim a feeling of flight. The Alphabats, hoping to receive more of this pleasure as a reward, carry out the bishop's demands.
Eventually, Rob Austin is captured. Vicky and Emily track him to the Cathedral, where they are joined by Vicky's family, Canon Tallis, and Mr. Theotocopulous. The united group expose the bishop as his (the bishop's) own brother, actor Henry Grandcourt, in disguise; break apart his plans to seize power; and unmask Hythloday as the dishonest scientist Dr. Hyde. The Micro-Ray is seized. Dave makes his peace
with both his past and future, coming eventually to look upon those who have been with him as his family.
in New York City
. Madeleine L'Engle was a volunteer librarian and writer-in-residence at this cathedral for several decades. It was early in this period in which she wrote The Young Unicorns. The Austin children and Emily attend school at St. Andrew's School, an Episcopal school that may be based on St. Hilda's and St. Hugh's Anglican School where L'Engle taught in the early 1960s. As L'Engle's own family, the Franklins, did in 1959, the Austins at the time of the novel have recently moved back to New York after years of living in rural Connecticut
. Unlike the Franklins, however, who stayed primarily in New York thereafter but also retained their Connecticut farmhouse, the Austins' move to New York is temporary.
and does not have Vicky Austin as its central character. Vicky is the first person protagonist
and narrator of the first two novels in the series, Meet the Austins
and The Moon by Night
, and of the book that follows The Young Unicorns, A Ring of Endless Light
. The Young Unicorns centers largely on the Austins' new friend Dave Davidson, but also has moments from the point of view of each of the Austins (both children and adults) and of Canon Tallis. It takes place approximately six months after The Moon by Night; A Ring of Endless Light takes place the following summer.
Young adult literature
Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...
suspense novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Madeleine L'Engle
Madeleine L'Engle
Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer best known for her young-adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time...
. It is the third novel about the Austin family, taking place between the events of The Moon by Night
The Moon by Night
The Moon by Night is the title of a young adult novel by Madeleine L'Engle. Published in 1963, it is the second novel about Vicky Austin and her family, taking place between the events of Meet the Austins and The Young Unicorns , and more or less concurrently with the O'Keefe family novel The...
(1963
1963 in literature
The year 1963 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*First United States printing of John Cleland's 1749 novel, Fanny Hill . The book is banned for obscenity, triggering a court case by its publisher.*Leslie Charteris publishes his final collection of stories...
) and A Ring of Endless Light
A Ring of Endless Light
A Ring of Endless Light is a 1980 novel by Madeleine L'Engle. The book tells of a girl named Vicky and her struggle to understand life and significance in the universe as she deals with her dying grandfather, while at the same time finding love....
(1980
1980 in literature
The year 1980 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Marguerite Yourcenar becomes the first woman to be elected to the Académie française....
). Unlike those two novels and Meet the Austins
Meet the Austins
Meet the Austins is the title of a 1960 novel by Madeleine L'Engle, the first of her books about the Austin family. It introduces the characters Vicky Austin and her three siblings, and Maggy Hamilton, an orphan...
(1960
1960 in literature
The year 1960 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*November 2 – Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case in the United Kingdom....
), it does not center on Vicky Austin
Vicky Austin
Victoria "Vicky" Austin is one of Madeleine L'Engle's most frequently-used fictional characters, appearing in eight books and referred to in at least one more. She is the main protagonist of the Austin family series of books...
specifically, but on a family friend, Josiah "Dave" Davidson.
Plot summary
As the story opens, the Austin family has settled in a New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
apartment after the events of The Moon by Night, and made some friends; blind young pianist Emily Gregory and Josiah "Dave" Davidson, who helps Emily get around. Emily is studying under the tutelage of the passionate, leonine Emmanuel Theotocopulous, better known as Mr. Theo. Canon Tallis
Canon Tallis
Canon John Tallis is a major character in the young adult novels of Madeleine L'Engle, appearing in four books. The character is based on L'Engle's real-life spiritual advisor, Canon Edward Nason West of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City....
, newly arrived at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine after the events of The Arm of the Starfish
The Arm of the Starfish
The Arm of the Starfish is a young adult novel by Madeleine L'Engle, first published in 1965. It is the first novel featuring Polly O'Keefe and the O'Keefe family, a generation after the events of A Wrinkle in Time...
, meets the Austin children and their friends just as they encounter an anachronistic Genie
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
in a junk shop. Tallis advises and helps to protect the children as they are drawn into a mystery involving the Genie, a street gang called the Alphabats, and the local bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
's strange behavior.
Dave is skeptical of the Genie, as is Suzy Austin, but the others are not sure. Centralized, single-minded activity on the part of the criminal Alphabats excites the suspicion of Canon Tallis, who interrogates Dave and Dr. Wallace Austin. Dr. Austin has been working on the creation and perfection of a laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
-based Micro-Ray, which is so unerringly precise that it may do more than simply penetrate the corporeal. Dave was once a member of the Alphabats, but has turned from their ways. He is in denial of his past, not even talking about it. Tension builds as the 'Bats try to draw Dave into their new mischief, whose mastermind is none other than the Bishop himself. The Genie appears to be the bishop's servant, and also appears to possess a Micro-Ray.
It is revealed that the bishop has given up hope
Hope
Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to with desire and reasonable confidence" or...
for the world; that he hopes to establish a state of control over humanity
World population
The world population is the total number of living humans on the planet Earth. As of today, it is estimated to be billion by the United States Census Bureau...
, whereby he may prevent anything he deems detrimental to its success. His Genie, Hythloday
Utopia (book)
Utopia is a work of fiction by Thomas More published in 1516...
, uses the Micro-Ray to control the Alphabats. A concentrated beam from it stimulates the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
's pleasure
Pleasure
Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria...
center, giving the victim a feeling of flight. The Alphabats, hoping to receive more of this pleasure as a reward, carry out the bishop's demands.
Eventually, Rob Austin is captured. Vicky and Emily track him to the Cathedral, where they are joined by Vicky's family, Canon Tallis, and Mr. Theotocopulous. The united group expose the bishop as his (the bishop's) own brother, actor Henry Grandcourt, in disguise; break apart his plans to seize power; and unmask Hythloday as the dishonest scientist Dr. Hyde. The Micro-Ray is seized. Dave makes his peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
with both his past and future, coming eventually to look upon those who have been with him as his family.
Major characters
- Josiah "Dave" Davidson — A somewhat troubled teenager at the time of The Young Unicorns, Dave is a carpenter's son, a former gang member and choir boy, and the friend and sometime protector of the Austin children.
- Emily Gregory — The only child of widowed Dr. Gregory, Emily was blinded under mysterious circumstances. Although she is learning to adjust, the danger to her is not over.
- Vicky AustinVicky AustinVictoria "Vicky" Austin is one of Madeleine L'Engle's most frequently-used fictional characters, appearing in eight books and referred to in at least one more. She is the main protagonist of the Austin family series of books...
— The protagonist of the other Austin family novels, Vicky is a budding poet and writer, the second eldest of four children. (Her elder brother John is away at college.) Often at odds with her younger sister, Suzy. Vicky has a mentor and kindred spirit in her maternal grandfather, retired minister Grandfather Eaton. At the time of the The Young Unicorns, Vicky is fifteen years old, and feeling out of place and isolated in the big city, after a summer in which two boys competed for her attention. Nevertheless, she considers Emily her first real "best friend." - Suzy Austin — Generally considered the beauty of the family, Suzy "has wanted to be a doctor ever since she could talk," and prefers science and rational explanations to fantasy and philosophizing. Being the closest to Emily in age, Suzy resents the fact that Vicky is Emily's best friend among the Austins.
- Rob Austin — The youngest of the Austin children, seven-year-old Robert Austin is curious and loving, with a penchant for insightful questions. Madeleine L'Engle has acknowledged that Rob is based on her own youngest child, Bion Franklin. In The Young Unicorns, Rob's trusting nature gets him into trouble.
- Canon John TallisCanon TallisCanon John Tallis is a major character in the young adult novels of Madeleine L'Engle, appearing in four books. The character is based on L'Engle's real-life spiritual advisor, Canon Edward Nason West of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City....
— Episcopal CanonCanon (priest)A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
. Tallis, a brusque, incisive man who is surprisingly adept at dealing with dangerous situations, appears in four novels. The character is based on L'Engle's spiritual advisor at St. John the Divine, Canon Edward Nason West. - Emmanuele Theotocopoulos (nickname Mr. Theo) — Elderly and excitable, Mr. Theo is Emily's piano teacher, an old friend of Canon Tallis, and the cathedral's semi-retired organist. Fiercely protective of Emily and to a lesser extent the Austins, he frequently has temper tantrums which mask his love for the objects of his anger.
Locations and sources
The primary setting of the book is the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, an Episcopal cathedralCathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Madeleine L'Engle was a volunteer librarian and writer-in-residence at this cathedral for several decades. It was early in this period in which she wrote The Young Unicorns. The Austin children and Emily attend school at St. Andrew's School, an Episcopal school that may be based on St. Hilda's and St. Hugh's Anglican School where L'Engle taught in the early 1960s. As L'Engle's own family, the Franklins, did in 1959, the Austins at the time of the novel have recently moved back to New York after years of living in rural Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. Unlike the Franklins, however, who stayed primarily in New York thereafter but also retained their Connecticut farmhouse, the Austins' move to New York is temporary.
Series notes
The Young Unicorns is unusual among the Austin family series of books in that it is written from a third-person omniscient point of viewPoint of view (literature)
The narrative mode is the set of methods the author of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical story uses to convey the plot to the audience. Narration, the process of presenting the narrative, occurs because of the narrative mode...
and does not have Vicky Austin as its central character. Vicky is the first person protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
and narrator of the first two novels in the series, Meet the Austins
Meet the Austins
Meet the Austins is the title of a 1960 novel by Madeleine L'Engle, the first of her books about the Austin family. It introduces the characters Vicky Austin and her three siblings, and Maggy Hamilton, an orphan...
and The Moon by Night
The Moon by Night
The Moon by Night is the title of a young adult novel by Madeleine L'Engle. Published in 1963, it is the second novel about Vicky Austin and her family, taking place between the events of Meet the Austins and The Young Unicorns , and more or less concurrently with the O'Keefe family novel The...
, and of the book that follows The Young Unicorns, A Ring of Endless Light
A Ring of Endless Light
A Ring of Endless Light is a 1980 novel by Madeleine L'Engle. The book tells of a girl named Vicky and her struggle to understand life and significance in the universe as she deals with her dying grandfather, while at the same time finding love....
. The Young Unicorns centers largely on the Austins' new friend Dave Davidson, but also has moments from the point of view of each of the Austins (both children and adults) and of Canon Tallis. It takes place approximately six months after The Moon by Night; A Ring of Endless Light takes place the following summer.