The Tesseract:
A Madeleine L'Engle Bibliography

The Austin Family Novels

[Dr. Wallace Austin, wife Victoria, children John, Vicky, Suzy and Rob, sometimes with temporary ward Maggy Hamilton. Vicky is usually the primary protagonist and narrative voice.]

THE TWENTY-FOUR DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS Seven-year-old Vicky's major role in a Christmas pageant is threatened by winter weather and the imminent delivery of her baby brother in this short fiction prequel to Meet the Austins, written for younger readers.

FORMAT	ISBN	PRICE*	PUBLISHER	ISSUED	STATUS	NOTES
hardcover ? pages	unknown		Harold Shaw Publishers	1964	out of print	listed in Carole F Chase's book Madeleine L'Engle, Suncatcher
hardcover 48 pages	0877888434	$11.99	Harold Shaw Publishers	Aug 1984	available	9.34" x 7.32" x .40" illustrated by Joe De Velasco
turtleback edition	0606040595	$9.30	Demco Media	Nov 1988	available	"Turtleback" is probably a hardcover library binding with no dust jacket. trade paperback
0440401054	$3.99	Dell Young Yearling	Dec 1988	available	7.62" x 5.13" x .23"	illustrated by Carl Cassler
in Miracle on 10th Street, hardback, pp 126-142	0877885311	$16.99	Harold Shaw Publishers	Nov 1998	available	collection of fiction, poetry & essays

*current list price; only given for books that are still in print

A FULL HOUSE: AN AUSTIN FAMILY STORY A former babysitter to the Austin family turns up on Christmas Eve, unexpectedly and in trouble, and Dr. Austin brings another guest home with him from the hospital.  This short story, which takes place when Suzy Austin is eight years old (about a year before Meet the Austins), appears in both of the Christmas collections listed below.  [Incidentally, the character Topaze from A Severed Wasp appears in the short story "Transfiguration, " also published in Miracle on 10th Street.]

FORMAT	ISBN	PRICE*	PUBLISHER	ISSUED	STATUS	NOTES
in Wintersong:  Christmas Readings by Madeleine L'Engle & Luci Shaw	0877888558	$19.99	Harold Shaw Publishers	Nov(?) 1996	available	fiction, poetry & essays
in Miracle on 10th Street, hardback, pp 126-142	0877885311	$16.99	Harold Shaw Publishers	Nov 1998	available	collection of fiction, poetry & essays
as A Full House: An Austin Family Christmas, hardcover, 44 pp	0877880204	$12.99	Harold Shaw Publishers	Sep 1999	available	illustrated by Mary chambers

FORMAT	ISBN	PRICE*	PUBLISHER	ISSUED	STATUS	NOTES
hardcover 192 pages	0814903525; LC 60-9726		Vanguard Press (later Random House)	Sep 1960	out of print	orange dust jacket
hardcover	0374349290	$16.00	Farrar Straus & Giroux	Oct 1997	available	restored edition with new dust jacket art by Dennis Nolan, 1997
turtleback edition	0606021728	$9.75	Demco Media	Nov 1985	available	"Turtleback" is probably a hardcover library binding with no dust jacket.
mass market paperback	044095777X	$4.50	Dell Laurel-Leaf	Apr 1981	available	6.76" x 4.18" x .46"

*current list price; only given for books that are still in print

THE ANTI-MUFFINS Maggy is proposed as a new member of the Anti-Muffin Club after a courageous act at Sunday School in this short fiction companion story to Meet the Austins, written for younger readers.  Originally written as part of that novel, The Anti-Muffins has now been restored to its rightful place in the 1997 FSG edition of Meet The Austins.

FORMAT	ISBN	PRICE*	PUBLISHER	ISSUED**	STATUS	NOTES
hardcover 48 pages	0829804153		Pilgrim Press	Feb 1981	out of print	9.25" x 6.13" x .38" illustrations by Gloria Ortiz
in Meet the Austins, hardcover	0374349290	$16.00	Farrar Straus Giroux	1997	available	available in this new edition only.

*current list price; only given for books that are still in print

THE MOON BY NIGHT Vicky meets handsome but troubled Zachary Grey [later featured in other Austin novels and in A House Like a Lotus] as the Austins take a cross country trip to soften the transition between life in the country and their new life in New York City.

FORMAT	ISBN	PRICE*	PUBLISHER	ISSUED	STATUS	NOTES
hardcover 218 pages	0374350493	$16.00	Farrar Straus & Giroux	Jun 1963	available	14th printing with new dust jacket art by Dennis Nolan, 1997.
mass market paperback	0440957761	$4.50	Dell Laurel-Leaf	Apr 1981	available	6.72" x 4.17" x .53"

*current list price; only given for books that are still in print

THE YOUNG UNICORNS The Austins, along with Josiah "Dave" Davidson [A Severed Wasp] and blind prodigy Emily Gregory, are drawn into danger as Dr Austin's work with lasers is put to evil use by the Alphabat gang's mysterious masters. Canon Tallis [The Arm of The Starfish, Dragons in the Waters] and Mr. Theotocopoulos [Dragons in The Waters] help to set things right.

FORMAT	ISBN	PRICE*	PUBLISHER	ISSUED	STATUS	NOTES
hardcover 275 pages	unknown; LC 68-13682	$16.00	Farrar Straus & Giroux	1968	available	18th printing with new dust jacket art by Dennis Nolan, 1997
turtleback edition	060601893X	$9.75	Demco Media	Jul 1995	available	"Turtleback" is probably a hardcover library binding with no dust jacket.
mass market paperback 285 pages	0440999197	$4.50	Dell Laurel-Leaf	Jan 1980	available	6.72" x 4.19" x .53"

*current price; only given for books that are still in print

A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT A Newbery Honor Book. Vicky is seemingly surrounded by death and impending death as she works with dolphins alongside guilt-scarred Adam Eddington [The Arm of the Starfish, Troubling a Star], dates the orphaned Leo Rodney and self-destructive Zachary Grey, and watches the progress of her Grandfather's leukemia. Katherine Vigneras [The Small Rain, A Severed Wasp] has a cameo appearance.

FORMAT	ISBN	PRICE*	PUBLISHER	ISSUED	STATUS	NOTES
hardcover 324 pages	0374362998		Farrar Straus & Giroux	1980	out of print	First Edition
turtleback edition	0606022430	$9.75	Demco Media	Jun 1989	probably available	"Turtleback" is probably a hardcover library binding with no dust jacket.
large print hardcover	1557361819		Cornerstone Books	unknown	out of print	Isis Large Print Books For Children(?)
mass market paperback	0440972329	$4.99	Dell Laurel-Leaf	Aug 1981	available	6.88" x 4.17" x .95"
audio cassette hardcover	0394077288		Amer School Pub	Jun 1991	out of print	scholastic edition

*current price; only given for books that are still in print

TROUBLING A STAR Vicky's friendship with Adam Eddington [The Arm of the Starfish, A Ring of Endless Light], and with Adam's Aunt Serena leads to mortal danger and intrigue on a trip to Antarctica.

FORMAT	ISBN	PRICE*	PUBLISHER	ISSUED	STATUS	NOTES
hardcover 296 pages	0374377839	$17.00	Farrar Straus & Giroux	Sep 1994	available	First Edition 9.28" x 6.31" x 1.03"
turtleback edition	0606083189	$9.75	Demco Media	Sep 1995	probably available	"Turtleback" is probably a hardcover library binding with no dust jacket.
mass market paperback 304 pages	0440219507	$4.99	Dell Laurel-Leaf	Sep 1995	available	6.92" x 4.19" x .86"

*current price; only given for books that are still in print

A SEVERED WASP See Katherine Forrester Vigneras page.  Dr. Suzy Davidson (Suzy Austin) appears, along with her husband Dave Davidson [The Young Unicorns] and their children.

Back to The Novels of Madeleine L'Engle page

Back to The Books of Madeleine L'Engle & biography page