Liz Arneth facilitated the roundtable discussion for children in grades 4-6. The students talked about the novel and came up with questions they would like to ask the author when she visits at the library on March 4 at 2 pm.

Some questions the students thought would be interesting include how long did it take to write Merlin? what inspired her to write it? did she relate any of the characters to her family? how many books does she write in a year? how is a book illustrated? and how is a book printed?

Merlin is part of a trilogy written by Ms Yolen. The other two books are Passager and Hobby. The book readers said Merlin is independent, special and talented.

“He has to undergo certain trials,” Ms Arneth said. “Terrible things have to happen to him in order for him to prove himself.”

The book discussion also addressed how Ms Yolen uses language and words to show her readers the time period and style of characters in her books.

“She knows a lot of words. She knows a lot of old words,” Ms Arneth said. “She uses a very old language to show the period. She tries to recreate an old language.”

Ms Arneth also discussed with the students different parts of a book like the index, chapter titles, and the author’s note usually found in the back of the book.

“A single book can take you to many other places,” Ms Arneth said.

Jane Yolen will be appearing at the C.H. Booth Library in on Sunday, March 4, at 2 pm to talk about her books and have a book signing. Many of Ms Yolen’s books will be available for purchase during the visit.