Until the Celebration

SNYDER, Zilpha Keatley. Until the Celebration. Illustrated by Alton Raible. NY: Atheneum, 1977. Maroon cloth with spine stamped in silver and front cover in blind. Red endpapers; 8 full-page b&w illustrations. Slight rubbing to upper spine end, else a fine copy in original color pictorial dust jacket (spine panel a tad rubbed at either end, slightest faint – barely visible – scratches near top of rear panel). Signed by the author, three-time Newbery Honor author Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

First edition. The final book in the Green Sky series. Raamo, Pomma, and Teera have succeeded and united the people – both those from above and those below. The truth has won out. But why does winning feel so much like losing? Old habits and ideas die hard. The societies above and below the forests' roots have discovered something new: Knowing the truth is easy, but living with the truth is hard. Resistance groups are growing, and violence threatens to poison the promise of peace. Can Raamo, Pomma, and Teera unite Green-sky before it's too late? Despite this Newbery Honor author prolific output, signed first editions of her books – especially earlier ones – remain surprisingly rare.