The Headless Cupid

Last updated
The Headless Cupid
The Headless Cupid coverart.jpg
First edition (h/b)
Author Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Illustrator Alton Raible
Language English
Genre Children's novel
Publisher Atheneum Books
Publication date
1971
Publication place United States
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages203
ISBN 0-689-20687-9
OCLC 12873557

The Headless Cupid is a children's novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. First published in 1971, the book was a Newbery Honor book for 1972. [1] It was also nominated in 1972 for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. [2] It is the first in the four-book series about the Stanley family, followed by The Famous Stanley Kidnapping Case,Blair’s Nightmare, and Janie’s Private Eyes.

Contents

Plot

After his university professor father remarries, eleven-year-old David Stanley must make a series of new adjustments: first to his new stepmother, then to the strange old house in the country to which the family relocates, and finally to his new stepsister, twelve-year-old Amanda. Amanda is upset about her mother's divorce and remarriage, and about being forced to move away from the city and her best friend there. Amanda claims to be a practicing witch, and arrives at the Stanley home in a ceremonial costume, bringing books on the supernatural and a caged crow that she claims is her familiar. She offers to share her occult knowledge with David and his younger siblings Janie, Tesser, and Blair. David, while skeptical, goes along with the idea in order to get along with Amanda and protect his younger siblings. In contrast to Amanda's possibly staged "witchcraft", the Stanley children, particularly David and Blair, seem to have some actual psychic gifts, but do not talk about them.

The Stanleys' old house has an alleged past history of being inhabited by a destructive poltergeist, who caused rocks to fly through the house and beheaded a wooden cupid that is carved into the stairs. When David's father is away, the poltergeist suddenly becomes active and again begins to wreak havoc in the house. David suspects Amanda of causing the events, and he and Blair eventually catch her in the act. However, one night a box of rocks, along with the long-lost cupid's head, suddenly falls down the stairs, in an incident not caused by Amanda. A shaken Amanda confesses to having faked the previous poltergeist events and her other supposed occult encounters, and gives up her witchcraft. As David glues the cupid's head back on, he learns that four-year-old Blair dropped the box down the stairs. According to Blair, a ghost girl told him where to find the box containing the rocks and cupid's head, but he tripped carrying the heavy box and spilled out its contents. Blair does not remember anything else about the encounter, leaving David to wonder whether supernatural beings may be living in the Stanley home.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews describes the book as "a roundly satisfying and judiciously grounded ghost story." [3]

It made the American Library Association's list of the one hundred most frequently challenged books for 1990-2000, due to the use of witchcraft by the children. [4]

Awards
Preceded by Joint winner of the
William Allen White Children's Book Award

1974
With: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Succeeded by
Dominic

Related Research Articles

<i>The Grey King</i> 1975 fantasy novel by Susan Cooper

The Grey King is a contemporary fantasy novel by Susan Cooper, published almost simultaneously by Chatto & Windus and Atheneum in 1975. It is the fourth of five books in her Arthurian fantasy series The Dark is Rising.

<i>Number the Stars</i> 1989 novel by Lois Lowry

Number the Stars is a work of historical fiction by the American author Lois Lowry about the escape of a family of Jews from Copenhagen, Denmark, during World War II.

Zilpha Keatley Snyder was an American author of books for children and young adults. Three of Snyder's works were named Newbery Honor books: The Egypt Game, The Headless Cupid and The Witches of Worm. She was most famous for writing adventure stories and fantasies.

<i>Below the Root</i> (video game) 1984 video game

Below the Root is a 1984 video game developed for Commodore 64, IBM PC, and Apple II home computer lines. The game is a continuation of the author Zilpha Keatley Snyder's Green Sky Trilogy, making it the fourth story in the series. The game is set in a fantasy world of Green-Sky covered with enormous trees and wildlife. The player is tasked to choose one of the five characters to explore the world and discover the meaning of the words that appeared in the dreams of the character D'ol Falla. The player explores the world through platforming, solving puzzles and exploration.

The Mark Twain Readers Award is given annually to a book for children in grades four through six.

<i>Up a Road Slowly</i> 1966 novel by Irene Hunt

Up a Road Slowly is a 1966 coming-of-age novel by American writer Irene Hunt, which won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature. This book is about a young child named Julie who grows from 7 to 17 years old with her aunt Cordelia and uncle Haskell in the country.

<i>Diceys Song</i> 1982 novel by Cynthia Voigt

Dicey's Song is a novel by Cynthia Voigt. It won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1983.

<i>A Gathering of Days</i> 1979 novel by Joan Blos

A Gathering of Days; A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32 (1979) is a historical novel by Joan Blos that won the 1980 National Book Award for Children's Books (hardcover) and the 1980 Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature.

<i>The Witches of Worm</i> Novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

The Witches of Worm is a 1972 young adult novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. It received the Newbery Honor citation in 1973.

<i>The Changeling</i> (Snyder novel) 1970 novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

The Changeling is a young adult novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. This book was first published in 1970. It was awarded a Christopher Award and named an outstanding book for young people by the Junior Library Guild.

<i>The Egypt Game</i> 1967 novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

The Egypt Game (1967) is a Newbery Honor-winning novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Set in a small college town in California, the novel follows the creation of a sustained imaginative game by a group of six children.

<i>The Gypsy Game</i> 1997 novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

The Gypsy Game in a 1997 children's book by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, a sequel to The Egypt Game (1967). All of the main characters return in a new adventure. This book was followed by a 1998 guide, The Gypsy Game Teacher's Guide.

<i>Below the Root</i> (novel) 1975 novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Below the Root is a science fiction/fantasy novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, the first book in the Green Sky Trilogy. The 1984 videogame Below the Root is based on the book series.

<i>And All Between</i> 1976 novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

And All Between is a science fiction/fantasy novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, the second book in the Green Sky Trilogy.

<i>Song of the Gargoyle</i> Book by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

The Song of the Gargoyle is a 1991 fantasy novel for young readers by Zilpha Keatley Snyder that is set in the Middle Ages.

<i>Pictures of Hollis Woods</i> 2002 young adult novel by Patricia Reilly Giff

Pictures of Hollis Woods is a 2002 young adult novel by Patricia Reilly Giff. The novel received a Newbery Honor Award in 2003. It was adapted for television in 2007.

<i>The Jazz Man</i> American childrens book

The Jazz Man is a children's book written by Mary Hays Weik and illustrated by her daughter Ann Grifalconi. The book was published by Atheneum Books in 1966 and received a Newbery Honor in 1967. A second edition was published in 1993 by Aladdin Books.The Jazz Man has also been published in Germany and South Africa.

<i>Eyes in the Fishbowl</i> 1968 novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Eyes in the Fishbowl is a 1968 adolescent novel by author Zilpha Keatley Snyder, illustrated by Alton Raible. A 14-year-old boy narrates the story of strange events that happen at Alcott-Simpson's, an upscale city department store, and his friendship with a mysterious girl he meets in the store, who turns out to be connected to the unusual events.

<i>The House on Parchment Street</i> 1973 novel by Patricia A. McKillip

The House on Parchment Street is a fantasy ghost story novel for juvenile readers by Patricia A. McKillip, first published in hardcover by Atheneum in 1973 and reprinted in trade paperback by the same publisher in March 1978 and April 1991. It bears the distinction, along with The Throme of the Erril of Sherill, of being one of McKillip's first published books.

Alton Robert Raible was an American painter, printmaker, and book illustrator, who was most widely known for his illustrations for many of the children's novels written by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

References

  1. Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922-Present
  2. Wisconsin Library Bulletin, 1973. Volumes 69-70 p. 190. Division for Library Services, Department of Public Instruction.
  3. Kirkus Reviews. Sept. 10, 1971, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/zilpha-keatley-snyder/the-headless-cupid/
  4. 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 1990–2000 Archived 2015-11-17 at the Wayback Machine