The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis, is part of his Chronicles of Narnia series.  This was the fourth book published, but it would be the sixth book chronologically.  At the beginning of the story, two children named Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole have managed to escape from some bullies at their school.  They find a mysterious door that is usually locked, but is now unlocked for some reason.  Desperate to hide from the bullies, the children decide to enter through the door.

To their amazement, the door leads to the enchanted land of Narnia.   This world is ruled by Aslan, the great lion.  Even though there are kings and queens in Narnia, Aslan rules over them all.

Aslan has a special task for Eustace and Jill.  Prince Rilian has gone missing.  His father, King Caspian the Tenth, has no other heir to the throne.  Rilian was presumably kidnapped by the evil Queen of the Underland.  Eustace and Jill are tasked with finding Rilian and bringing him safely home.

My favorite character throughout the series is Aslan, but in this book, I was also very fond of Puddleglum, the Marsh-wiggle.  Puddleglum tends to be quite pessimistic and glum, but he is more high-spirited than most other Marsh-wiggles.  He becomes very helpful to Eustace and Jill during their quest.  One of my favorite parts in the story is when the children and Puddleglum arrive at the house of Harfang, home to a great family of giants.  They later learn that the giants are secretly planning to eat them, so they must devise a plan to escape. 

This is one of my favorite books in The Chronicles of Narnia, mostly because of Puddleglum, and also because of the wonderful action, adventure and suspense.  This book is also highly symbolic and teaches important lessons.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

-Simon H.

The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.