1. Susan Cooper wrote Over Sea, Under Stone as a single novel; she did not see it as the first in a series of five novels until years later. Yet in the last sentence of the book, Barney predicts Jane, Simon, Great-Uncle Merry, and he will "know one day" what the words engraved on the grail mean. Are possible future novels anticipated elsewhere in the novel? How?

2. Near the end of Over Sea, Under Stone Barney realizes that Great-Uncle Merry is actually Merlin. " 'Merriman Lyon,' he said softly to himself. 'Merry Lyon. . . Merlion. . . Merlin. . .'" Which other names in the novel are important?

Why and how?

3. Jane, Barney, and Simon's parents leave them alone much of the time.

Would you like to live in this sort of family?

4. Do you like or dislike the illustrations? Do they help you imagine what the characters and...