The Bronze Pen

Twelve-year-old Audrey Abbott dreams of becoming a writer, but with her father's failing health and the family's shaky finances, it seems there is no room for what her overworked mother would surely call a childish fantasy. So Audrey keeps her writing a secret. That is, until she meets a mysterious old woman who seems able to read her mind. Audrey is surprised at how readily she reveals her secret to the woman. One day the old woman gives Audrey a peculiar bronze pen and tells her to "use it wisely and to good purpose." It turns out to be just perfect for writing her stories with. But as Audrey writes, odd things start happening. Did Beowulf, her dog, just speak to her? And what is that bumping under her bed at night? It seems that show more whatever she writes with the pen comes true. However, things don't always happen in the way that she wants or expects. In fact, it's quite difficult to predict what writing with the pen will do. Could the pen be more of a curse than a gift? Or will Audrey be able to rewrite the future in the way that she wishes---and save her father's life? show less

It all starts with a large white duck…

Audrey Abbot is a 12 year old aspiring author. In her spare time she adds to her current novel, “Heather’s Alley Adventure”, a mystery with a girl detective. Audrey is writing outdoors and finds herself interrupted by a large white duck. It leads her to a mysterious nearby cave.

As Audrey follows the duck and explores the cave, she finds a flock of black birds, another of owls and also bats. She wasn’t afraid of them, as her Grandma Nellie knew about these creatures and had told Audrey about them —no fear.

When Audrey got to the back of the cave, she found an old lady who just seemed to appear. The woman thanked Audrey for coming to visit. The woman also seems to know of Audrey’s desire show more to become a writer. The woman gives Audrey a bronze pen with the caution “to use it wisely and to a good purpose.”

Is the pen mightier than the sword? How will Audrey know if what she writes is of a good purpose? Is magic real?

I’ve read a number of Zilpha Keatley Snyder books and found them well written and thought provoking. Also a good read for kids and adults! show less

The gift of a Bronze Pen is a tantalizing source of mystical effects when something is written with it. The novel’s theme is enchantingly original, and likely to appeal to both the advanced mid-grade and YA readers. The author’s writing is engaging as always with characterizations pitched to interest younger readers, especially those who identify with having household pets that are like family. The plot moves along rapidly at times and with some mildly suspenseful situations.

However, a few drawbacks occur that lessen the positive impact of the story, especially the rushed-feeling in the closing chapters such as how the father's debilitating medical problems are treated and no resolution to several loose ends: what was the backstory show more that made the cave out of bounds? who was that being in the cave? what happened to the dragon that really was conjured?
Overall, it is a book worth accompanying a set of Zilpha K. Snyder’s other novels for young people, just not quite as well executed as The Stanley family series or the Egypt Game. show less

Realistic fiction with hints of fantasy. A middle-schooler whose father has a serious cardiac problem escapes to her writing to cope with the stresses of her life. There is very little peril or truly negative behavior; the protagonist experiences the ups and downs of friendship, and her mom works for the book's one mean character, who we never actually see in action. The animal characters are well done.
Not as engrossing as I recall The Egypt Game being when I read it in grade school.

Audrey has always used writing of fiction to cheer herself up or at least make her forget what was worrying her. But when she begins to use the bronze pen given to her by the ethereal lady in the cave animals begin to talk, dragons appear...

So many loose threads left at the end! Almost as if the book was begun years before the author wrote the ending, and in the interim forgot all the little plot elements she introduced.

With her father's failing health and the family's shaky finances, twelve-year-old Audrey's dreams of becoming a writer seem very impractical until she is given a peculiar bronze pen that appears to have unusual powers.