The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

In this book Will Staunton discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones on his 11th birthday. He is called into service of the Light to fight the Dark, which is rising (manifest in a terribly cold snap between Midwinter's Eve and Twelfth Night). At times it felt like Will was more a pawn of forces he didn't understand than a true hero, but that could be because he only learns about his powers in bits and pieces. It took me a while to get the feel of the mythology, but I did enjoy this book. It feels very English both in the mythology and the situation (it's clearly the same culture that produced Agatha Christie's delightful murder mysteries).