23-27. The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper Under Sea, Under Stone The Dark Is Rising Greenwitch The Grey King Silver on the Tree
I've read this series so much that I've got the first parts of the poem memorized. The series follows several children as they get involved in the battle between the Light and the Dark. Will Stanton finds out on his 11th birthday that he is the last of the Old Ones of the Light, and that he is the Sign-Seeker, the one to find the six signs that will become one of the objects of the Light to fight the Dark. There was a movie a few years ago, but they changed so much of the source that I never watched it.
"You need me. You wouldn't be much of a hero without a villain. And you do love being the hero, don't you. The cheering children, the swooning women, you love it so much, it's made you my most reliable accomplice." -- Lex Luthor to Superman, Question Authority, Justice League Unlimited
