Fablehaven

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2006

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 6-8

Chapters 9-11

Chapters 12 -14

Chapters 15-17

Chapters 18-19

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 12 -14Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 12 Summary: “Inside the Barn”

As Kendra and Seth continue to explore while looking for Grandpa and Lena, they hear a booming groan coming from somewhere on the property. Eventually they make their way to the massive barn that they were told to stay out of. They break in and find a gigantic cow, evidently the source of the milk that allows them to see magical creatures. The cow’s udder is painfully full, so the children work together to milk her. When they finish, they are exhausted, and the day is ending. The siblings return to the house to eat and regroup.

Chapter 13 Summary: “An Unexpected Message”

Upon their return to the attic, Kendra and Seth find that Goldilocks the hen has spelled out a message with her feed: “IM GRAM.” The children communicate with her for a short while and learn that their grandmother has indeed been turned into a chicken; this is why she had been mysteriously absent recently. Seth and Kendra decide that they may have no other choice than to ask for Muriel’s help one final time.

When they arrive at Muriel’s shack, she already knows that Grandpa and Lena are missing, thanks to intel from the imps that she spends time with. The children decide they have to free Muriel so that they can turn their grandmother back into a human and continue their search for Grandpa and Lena. Despite her promises, the children don’t trust Muriel but also don’t see another way. Muriel transforms Grandma Sorenson back into her human form. Grandma threatens Muriel, warning her that she will be punished again for further evil dealings, but Muriel disregards her and escapes while Grandma reunites with Kendra and Seth. Grandma tells the children that their next best hope for locating Grandpa and Lena lies with Nero, a greedy but powerful cliff troll.

Chapter 14 Summary: “Trolling for Grandpa”

Grandma explains what it was like to be a chicken and shares her regret that it took freeing Muriel to transform her. She tells the children that Nero the troll is dangerous but will be willing to help if they can make a deal. Grandma Sorenson is one of the first adults to tell the children the full truth about danger. As a result, Seth pays more attention to her warnings.

Nero immediately tests them when they arrive and one of them must climb a series of poles to gain entry to his cave. Seth disobeys his grandmother and climbs the poles himself, as he knows he will be best at it. Nero refuses the group’s offers of treasure. Grandma bargains with him and gets Nero to agree to exchange a massage for finding where Grandpa and Lena are being held. After Grandma, Kendra, and Seth finish Nero’s massage, he tells them that Grandpa and Lena are being held at a place called the Forgotten Chapel.

Chapters 12-14 Analysis

These chapters return to the idea of confinement and explore themes of agreements and the consequences for breaching those agreements. Kendra and Seth encounter Viola, the giant cow and supplier of magical milk, for the first time in these chapters. She is closed in a massive barn that is barely any bigger than she is; the children notice that it seems like she has barely any room to move. The cow only seems to be bothered by her overfull udders, but the extreme confinement of a harmless magical creature raises ethical questions. The children also return to Muriel’s shack for the final time, freeing her from her confinement to free their grandmother from a different type of confinement within the body of a chicken. This imprisonment makes more sense. Muriel is a danger to herself, the preserve, and potentially the world if she is allowed to conduct her magic the way she wants.

These chapters also reference several agreements and the consequences for violating those agreements. Kendra and Seth carefully consider the consequences of freeing Muriel before realizing she is their only option. Both agree that even if Muriel does agree to something, she cannot be trusted since she already broke the rules of Fablehaven by getting involved with dark magic in the past. Once Grandma resumes her human form, she once again reminds Muriel of the consequences awaiting Muriel if she continues to disregard the agreements that Fablehaven is founded on; ultimately, Muriel goes back to meddling with dark magic as soon as she is able and is indeed imprisoned for it in the end of the novel. Kendra, Seth, and Grandma must also make an agreement with Nero, the cliff troll. Though he is also a dangerous individual, he is shown to honor the agreement that they made after a considerable amount of bargaining. This brings into question some of the differences between humans and magical creatures.