The Headless Cupid
 First edition (h/b) | |
| Author | Zilpha Keatley Snyder |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Alton Raible |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Atheneum Books |
Publication date | 1971 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 203 |
| ISBN | 0-689-20687-9 |
| OCLC | 12873557 |
The Headless Cupid is a children's novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. First published in 1971, the book was a Newbery Honor book for 1972.[1]
Plot
After his university-professor father remarries, eleven-year-old David Stanley must make a series of new adjustments: first to his new stepmother, then to the strange old house to which the family relocates, and finally to his new stepsister Amanda. Amanda, however, doesn't plan to make adjustment easy for anyone. She arrives wearing a ceremonial costume, with a pile of books on the supernatural and a caged crow in tow. Claiming to be a practicing witch, Amanda offers to share her occult knowledge with four Stanley children. David, while skeptical, follows Amanda's lead until a series of poltergeist activities, all centering around the strange headless wooden cupid carved in the front stair, infest the Stanley home. David suspects Amanda is responsible for the chaos, but, as the unexplained incidents mount in frequency and intensity, the troubled history of the old house comes to light. David must solve the mystery of the headless cupid before it destroys his new family.
Literary significance & criticism
This book has made the American Library Association's list of the one hundred most frequently challenged books for 1990-2000, due to the use of witchcraft by the children.[2]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Trumpet of the Swan |
Joint winner of the William Allen White Children's Book Award with Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH 1974 |
Succeeded by Dominic |