Annerton Pit

by Peter Dickinson

“One of the real masters of children’s literature.” —Philip Pullman

“Peter Dickinson is a national treasure.” —The Independent

“[A] master storyteller.” —School Library Journal

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy

175 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL was a prolific English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories.

Peter Dickinson lived in Hampshire with his second wife, author Robin McKinley. He wrote more than fifty novels for adults and young readers. He won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Award twice, and his novel The Blue Hawk won The Guardian Award in 1975.

Reviews

[William Leight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dickinson pulls you into "Annerton Pit" by using a blind boy as the point-of-view (metaphorically, of course) character. The way Jake describes and interacts with the world around him in the first few chapters is well-drawn, illuminating both his disability and his character, and making him sympathetic enough to draw you into his story. And then, just when you're getting comfortable with a low-key story of a blind boy on a motorcycle trip with his older brother, Dickinson suddenly switches registers, transforming the book into a taut and highly suspenseful thriller. Given that this has little resemblance to the children's books or mysteries that Dickinson is mostly known for, it makes for an impressive demonstration of his range and powers, not to mention the quality of his writing.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

A blind young boy is trapped in a Yorkshire mine with a creature from the past.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Dickinson wrote many really wonderful books for children and young people as well as his thrillers for adults. The range of subjects he covered in them was enormously impressive, from the dawn of civilisation, to nineteenth century China, from the Old Testament, to boy soldiers in late twentieth century Africa, and high fantasy in his later novels and everything else in between. Annerton Pit is something of a classical boys adventure story with a supernatural edge. What is unusual is that Dickinson has set himself the test of creating a hero in Jake who is blind and for whom the world is experienced primarily through sound and touch. Given what Jake has to go through, this is something of a tour de force on the part of the author. I've given this three stars as the story lost its hold for me towards the end, and I don't feel that it's on a par with some of Peter Dickinson's other wonderful books, but what does stick in the mind is the creation of Jake.

[Lee Pritchett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as research for a course i am doing. I must say that i was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't my normal type of read, but it held my attention all the way through. Although it was meant to be a scary story, it was not too scary for its readership. The characters have a bit of a tough time of it and get stuck in a haunted mine. they need to find a way out and fast. This book was quite enjoyable.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jake Bertold is blind, but far from helpless. His brother Martin belongs to GR, the Green Revolution, and knows the 5 propositions, the last of which is about non-violence. They go looking for their missing granpa north of Newcastle.