Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper

The first book in The Dark is Rising sequence, Over Sea, Under Stone introduces us to the Drew Children who are on vacation on the Cornwall coast of England. While exploring the old house they are renting, they come upon a very old manuscript, which they eventually translate with the help of their Great Uncle "Merry." What follows is an exciting quest to find a valuable artifact before the suspicious visitors lurking in the area catch them or figure out where the manuscript leads them. The audiobook version is well read by Alex Jennings, who also narrates The Dark is Rising, the next book in the series. Jennings captures the various accents of Cornwall, the visiting children, and the ominous tones of the villain, Mr. Hastings. When the audio book I was listening to malfunctioned on the last CD, I headed straight to the library to get the book so I could finish it! (Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper. Random House Listening Library, 2007)