ABANDONED. And that's a cause worth fighting for

[M]

All I can remember is the last line "and that's a cause worth fighting for"
I think the book was set in England. There was magic too, I think.
Help is appreciated!

EDIT: It may just be the end of a chapter, not the end of the whole book, but it was definitely right before a page break at least.

[M]

bumping this up in the hopes someone recognizes this...

[bup]

Do you remember if it was an adult book, or YA, or what? Do you remember when you read it?

[M]

I remember it was YA or possibly for late elementary schoolers. I read it at least 3 years ago.

[Carmen]

It sounds familiar somehow.
Have you checked The Prydain Chronicles (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The High King, The Castle of Llyr) by Lloyd Alexander?

[Wendy]

That sounds really familiar, but the only thing I'm coming up with is Susan Cooper: Over Sea Under Stone; The Dark is Rising; etc. And I don't really remember that line, but it's possible.

[M]

Carmen: I don't think it was The Prydian Chronicles, I've only read 2 Lloyd Alexander books, and none of those titles sound familiar.
Wendy: I *think* I started reading the Dark is Rising, but I know I didn't read the end...

[Carmen]

Andalee wrote: "Carmen: I don't think it was The Prydian Chronicles, I've only read 2 Lloyd Alexander books, and none of those titles sound familiar.
Wendy: I *think* I started reading the Dark is Rising, but I kn..."

Andalee,
Have you read The Earthsea Trilogy by Le Guin Ursula K.?
It is bothering me too as if I read it not long ago.

[Erica]

I don't know the answer, yet, but some books we can rule out:

It isn't S Cooper's Dark Is Rising series, unless it's Over Sea, Under Stone (WHERE is my copy?).

It isn't U K Le Guin's Earthsea Trilogy.

It isn't any of my 7 books by Edward Eager, though his closing lines really looked very promising.

And it isn't any of the 9 Joan Aiken books from The Wolves of Willoughby Chase to Cold Shoulder Road.

It isn't any of my Roald Dahl children's books (I think I have all of them).

Sorry, I can't find The Prydain Chronicles today.

I will next consult my daughters. Keep the faith!

[M]

Nope, I haven't read the Earthsea books.
And thanks for checking all of those books, Erica!

[M]

I thought of another thing.
The book reminded me of Harry Potter 6, but that's not it.

[Erica]

OK, one more clue, and then I'm done:

My cousin-once-removed, EBee, tells me that Gandalf says this to Frodo in the movie of "The Two Towers." Where are the Tolkein fans out there? Can you check your copy? Thanks!

[M]

I have no copy of The Two Towers but if the quote is in the book at all, how far into the story was it?

[Erica]

Uhhh, I have to confess that the book sat heavily with me and I didn't see the movie. I'm hoping it is, in fact, your closing line. Maybe Tolkein fans always know their source material and so never read this thread? WHERE ARE YOU GUYS? WE NEED YOU!

[Lisa]

Ack. I can't find my copy and I couldn't figure it out from googlebooks. I'm sure somebody will at some point.

[This Is Not The Michael You're Looking For]

I sincerely doubt that it is a quote from the Lord of the Rings. It doesn't sound even remotely correct and it's certainly not the last line of any of the books.

Edit: there is a line from the very end of the second movie which has Sam making the following statement:

It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why...Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something...There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

I do not believe this is actually from any of the books

[Cheryl]

First of all, it is definitely NOT the last line of the Two Towers. At the end of that part of the trilogy you have the statement "Frodo was alive but taken by the Enemy". The statement Michael has quoted above is the closest thing to the sentence you're looking for, and as Michael correctly pointed out, that statement was only in the movie, not the book. That paragraph is far from the speech patterns that Samwise uses in the books. I scanned both Two Towers and The Return of the King and could find nothing similar to that anywhere.

Hope this helps!

[M]

I've never seen any LotR movies, and I've only read the first book, so I don't think this is it. But thanks for your help!

[M]

bumping this up again.

[Jaclyn]

I know Prydain has been ruled out but I checked anyway. It is not the ending of any of the books and I don't remember it being said at any point in the five (I've practically memorized them).

Also, I don't believe that is in LotR. I'll check if anyone is hardcore about it but I don't remember it anywhere in the book.

[M]

I vaguely remember something about a castle...the castle was special somehow... not sure if that's any more to go on, but every little bit helps, right?

[Mir]

Castle in the Attic or The Battle for the Castle by Elizabeth Winthrop? I don't remember any of the lines, but those are for the right age group and involve a boy fighting in a castle that he is magically transported to. There's also Knight's Castle by Edward eager, which has some kids transported back in time to the days of Ivanhoe.

[M]

No, I don't think either of those are right, but thanks.

[M]

bumping this up again...

[Ann aka Iftcan]

what about one of the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis? There are castles in them. I don't actually remember that being the ending line of any of the books, but some of the rest of the descriptions sound right.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

oh wow--what about Simon R. Green. It could be from Blue Moon Rising or from Beyond The Blue Moon. The 6 Hawk and Fisher's between this are probably too dark for that line to be the final sentence. Altho Hawk and Fisher are somewhat idealistic, no matter what. But try those.

[M]

I know it isn't Narnia. I'll look into the others.

[M]

Nope, I haven't any memory of reading (or even hearing of) those books. But thanks for looking!

[M]

Bumping this up again, since it's been a while...

[Kaion]

A children/YA book with a castle and magic maybe set in England in pretty non-specific. Do you have any other recollection?

(For example, if you got it in a library, etc. What sort of "cause" was it?)

[M]

Hmm. Good question. It would've been either from my small school's library, or from my aunt's basement. Either way, it would have to be late 90s at the latest.

No clue about the cause, though I'm pretty sure the line was part of the narration or spoken by a male character. And I think it might be in first person, and the main character is male...

[M]

Bump.

[The Elusive]

Cory Doctorov's Short Story Printcrime?

[Kate]

I'm looking through the Lord of the Rings...it could be there. Or what about The Princess Bride?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Margret, are you still looking for this book?