The second book in Madeleine L'Engle trilogy involving the Murry family. A few years have passed since the events in A Wrinkle in Time, Charles Wallace Murry is now in elementary school and having a rather hard time with it. Standard problem being too smart in a small town. He contracts a mysterious illness that is battled through the efforts of Meg Murry, Calvin O'Keefe, Mr. Jenkins, a cherubim, and one of Charles Wallace's farandola. It's a rather odd tale, and in my opinion the weakest of the three books. A Swiftly Tilting Planet is the next book in the trilogy.