Story+Elements

__**Title:**__ //Skellig //

__**Author:**__ David Almond

__**Setting:**__ Mostly around Michael's dirty, ruined house on Falconer Road, England. Other settings include the boarded-up house where the owls live, the hospital, and Michael's school.

__**Conflict:**__ //Skellig// has two conflicts: one, Michael's baby sister is premature and might die; and second, Michael finds a strange, antisocial creature in the garage who appears to be dying. Throughout the book Michael and his eccentric neighbor, Mina, help the creature as the baby is bought back and forth between the hospital and home. The reader learns clues about who or what exactly the creature is (it is implied the creature might be a man, a bird, an angel, or just an apparition) but the book never confirms the reader's suspicions.

__**Genre:**__ The genre is fantasy as the creature is a supernatural being.

__**Characters & Characteristics:**__
 * Michael:** A //typical// 10-12 year old boy, he is //worried// about his baby sister dying. He is very //caring and accepting// as he helps Skellig throughout the book, and enjoys playing football (he is known as a //great tackler)//. Although Michael is cautious when Skellig is involved, he is also willing to take risks.
 * Mina:** Michael's best friend is an //eccentric home-schooled// girl who //loves William Blake's poetry and all things that fly.// She has a //strong belie//f that schools trap children's minds. Mina is //daring, clever, and rather strange// but //open// to new things and ideas. She is also //trustworthy// and will keep secrets to herself.
 * Skellig:** Skellig is an //antisocial, depressed// creature that appears to be //dying// in the garage. He does //not like or trust// Michael or Mina, who discover him there, but over time he allows them to help him. Skellig is //shady// character and the reader never finds out who or what he is, where he came from, and how he ended up in the garage.
 * Leakey:** A classmate and friend of Michael. He //loves football.// Leakey //can be persuaded// by peer pressure (like when Coot was teasing Mina) but seems to be more //considerate// of Michael's feelings.
 * Coot:** A classmate and friend of Michael. He also //likes football//. Coot can be quite i//mmature and rude//, sometimes taking insults too far.
 * Joy:** Michael's premature baby sister who is //full of life.//
 * Michael's Mom:** A //typical preoccupied, strong-willed// mother.
 * Michael's Dad:** //Caring, hardworking and a loving// father.
 * Mr. Stone:** An //overly cheery, persuasive// real estate agent.
 * Mina's Mom:** A //imaginative, creative teacher// and also a //widow.//
 * Dr. Death:** Joy (the baby's) doctor. He is //skeptical// and //interrogative.// Michael hates him.
 * Ernie Meyers:** The previous inhabitant of the house Michael had just moved into. Ernie had lived in the house for ages and ages, until somebody found him dead underneath the kitchen table. He is said to have been //mad// as he saw visions near the end of his life. It is implied he saw Skellig.

__**Point of View**__: The story is told from Michael's point of view.

__**Themes:**__ Skellig has many themes and motifs, but these are some of the most obvious:
 * Fighting illness
 * Evolution (People never stop changing.)
 * Imagination
 * Mortality
 * Religion (several[| Christian] values)
 * Love (Love can heal illness.)
 * Reality (How do you know what's real and what's not?)