I've been searching for two books that I read when I was a kid, they are about 15 + years old.
The first one I don't know the title or the author. It's about two cousins named Guinevere and Finvarra. Gwen is from the states and she goes to see her cousin Fin in Ireland (they're 15 or 16 I think). While Gwen is there, they decide to test the folklore about falling asleep in a fairy mound so that they can meet the fairy king. They fall asleep and when Gwen wakes up, she sees the king taking Fin. The story follows Gwen's journey to find and save Fin (she finds her several times but each time she refuses to stay with the king). She meets a business man, a red-haired woman who drives a motorcycle, and a young mayor (I think) who lives with his grandmother (I think) who all believe in fairies. These characters are important because an evil comes every 1000 years to destroy the world and Gwen needs these people to help her and the fairy king destroy the worm (I think this is what it's called). At the end of the book, the fairy king has to sacrifice himself and when the group is walking back, they meet up with a stranger sitting on a rock. It turns out to be the king and he joins them on their way back to the village.
As for the second book, I'm not sure of the title or the author. It's about a girl (again, I think she's around 15 or 16) who lives with her family. They're "poor" people, or the working class. They work in the mines looking for fire stones. The girl (who has blonde hair, unlike all the others who have brown/black hair) feels calm when she's under the earth because she can sense the stones, but she's troublesome and ends up having to work twice as long to make up lost stones. On the day she has to work, she decides to escape. A man sees her but I'm not sure if he's the one that travels with her to the city (I think it is). She befriends a falcon on the way. When they arrive to the city where the fire lord lives, she's scorned because she's a woman. The fire lord can only be a man. She has to prove herself over and over. I think she even finds the stones to begin a new mine but the lord claims that he found the new mine, at some point in the story. At the end of the book, she's left out in the cold without any form of heat, so she looks within herself and imagines the sun (which they have never seen because the sky is nothing but dark gray clouds) and the fire and manages to heat herself without the aid of a fire stone. She shows people how to do this and at the end, the clouds dissipate and the sun comes out because they are no longer burning the stones.
If anyone can suggest either a title or an author, I would be very grateful. I've been looking for these books for a very long time and have had absolutely no luck. Thanks in advance!
The first one I don't know the title or the author. It's about two cousins named Guinevere and Finvarra. Gwen is from the states and she goes to see her cousin Fin in Ireland (they're 15 or 16 I think). While Gwen is there, they decide to test the folklore about falling asleep in a fairy mound so that they can meet the fairy king. They fall asleep and when Gwen wakes up, she sees the king taking Fin. The story follows Gwen's journey to find and save Fin (she finds her several times but each time she refuses to stay with the king). She meets a business man, a red-haired woman who drives a motorcycle, and a young mayor (I think) who lives with his grandmother (I think) who all believe in fairies. These characters are important because an evil comes every 1000 years to destroy the world and Gwen needs these people to help her and the fairy king destroy the worm (I think this is what it's called). At the end of the book, the fairy king has to sacrifice himself and when the group is walking back, they meet up with a stranger sitting on a rock. It turns out to be the king and he joins them on their way back to the village.
As for the second book, I'm not sure of the title or the author. It's about a girl (again, I think she's around 15 or 16) who lives with her family. They're "poor" people, or the working class. They work in the mines looking for fire stones. The girl (who has blonde hair, unlike all the others who have brown/black hair) feels calm when she's under the earth because she can sense the stones, but she's troublesome and ends up having to work twice as long to make up lost stones. On the day she has to work, she decides to escape. A man sees her but I'm not sure if he's the one that travels with her to the city (I think it is). She befriends a falcon on the way. When they arrive to the city where the fire lord lives, she's scorned because she's a woman. The fire lord can only be a man. She has to prove herself over and over. I think she even finds the stones to begin a new mine but the lord claims that he found the new mine, at some point in the story. At the end of the book, she's left out in the cold without any form of heat, so she looks within herself and imagines the sun (which they have never seen because the sky is nothing but dark gray clouds) and the fire and manages to heat herself without the aid of a fire stone. She shows people how to do this and at the end, the clouds dissipate and the sun comes out because they are no longer burning the stones.
If anyone can suggest either a title or an author, I would be very grateful. I've been looking for these books for a very long time and have had absolutely no luck. Thanks in advance!
