I went into this book expecting a re-imagined magical world AKA Harry Potter. So, I was pleasantly surprised with Aislinn Brophy’s portrayal of a magical high school. One that is supper focused on success and the pressure that entails for the students. I also appreciated how the story dealt with exploitation and predatory behavior many teens face.
Tag Archives: magic
Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
In this sequel to “Anya and the Dragon,” thirteen-year old Anya is determined to bring her father home from war. She enlists her friend Ivan and the dragon Hakon to help in this fantastical story of adventure and magic. The book keeps a face pace, encountering elves, monsters, and a dangerous underground city. When they meet magical Lena, she turns Hakon into a human which both helps and hurts their quest. The book left me wondering if there will be a third book in the series.
The Circus Rose by Betsy Cornwell
The Circus Rose is a queer re-telling of Snow White and Rose Red fairy tales told in the alternating perspective of twin teen sisters, Ivory and Rose. Ivory writes in prose; Rose writes in verse. The girls have been raised in the circus by their single mother, the ringmaster of a circus. The girls each have separate fathers but were born within two minutes of each other. Rosie and Ivory have spent their lives in the circus, and have been traveling on tour for years. When they finally return to Port End, the town that is the closest place to home, something has changed: there are flyers all over posted by the Brethren, a fundamentalist religious order. Brethren preachers are seen throughout the community, including in front of the circus ticket booth. When the circus presents its big homecoming show, disaster strikes. From that moment on, the themes darken, circus staff disappear, and despair builds. Ivory is left to salvage the circus with the help of her transgender Faerie sweetheart, Tam.
Faeries have historically been persecuted by the Brethren and this complicates the plot even further. (This novel is a fantasy set in an unknown time period and undetermined location. It is a time before electric lights as gaslights were used in the circus. People travel by ship, wagon, and airship reminiscent of the steampunk Finishing School series by Gail Carriger).
As Ivory and Tam frantically try to track down the missing circus members, including Ivory and Rose’s mother and Rose herself, the battle becomes pitches against the religious extremists. The ending of the novel is reminiscent of thrilling, other-world scenes found in various books in the Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children series.
For those who enjoyed author Betsy Cornwell’s 2015 steampunk version of Cinderella, Mechanica, those who like Steampunk or Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children, The Circus Rose is an excellent choice.
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Our Principal Breaks a Spell
Mr. Bundy , principal of P.S. 88, receives an interesting letter and magic powder sample from a mysterious person named Olivia Martin. He is contemplating inviting her to put on an assembly when Roger, a student, comes in to assist Mr. Bundy. Students rotate through daily through Mr. Bundy’s office as helpers and Roger is a great kid. Mr. Bundy gets called out of his office and leaves responsible Roger alone to fold newsletters.
Well, even great kids can get into some mischief and Roger does just that when he sees the magic powder and has the idea to use it to turn the broom into a self-powered sweeper. The broom goes wild and ends up splitting into several brooms along the way as Roger and a few classmates try vainly to stop the craziness. Mr. Bundy steps out to the hall and sees the mayhem, which is now entering the classrooms, runs to his office and calls Olivia Martin for help. She gives him the spell to make everything right and he does so. But, he has a surprise for the students of P.S. 88. Assembly day comes and so does Olivia Martin, swooping in on a glowing broom and sprinkling magic powder around the room. Flying brooms appear and the teachers and students hop aboard for one of the best assemblies ever!
This short chapter book is a nice beginning book for those students that want to try something different than a picture book. Pages explaining the cast of characters and a word list are helpful for young readers. Black and white illustrations are simple and help move the story along. It’s a fun romp of a read for kids and refreshing to see that even the good kids can get into a little mischief sometimes!
My Little Pony : Friendship is Magic.Vol. 11
Shining Armor and Cadance share the story of their meeting and romance in school (and eventual marriage) with his little sister and her friends. Shining Star was a ‘nerd’ and Cadance was a popular pony, who appeared to be headed to the dance with the awful polo team captain. Shining Star’s friends are there to help him achieve his dream of taking Cadance to the dance and they devise elaborate plans…all of which fail miserably. The book ends on a cliffhanger and we don’t know how they end up at the dance together. We have to read the next book in the series to finish the story.
This graphic novel is colorful and is varied in number of panels per page, which moves the story along nicely. Colors are vibrant and the ponies are as over-the-top sparkly and glamorous as they are in their television shows. It should appeal to young readers. But, beware – you won’t be able to get away with buying just one volume. Be prepared to purchase the series, because your students will demand to know how the story ends!
Magic Tricks with Cards
Magic Tricks with Cards explains a variety of card tricks that range from “not so tricky” to “terrifically tricky” with step-by-step instructions and diagrams throughout. Budding magicians will enjoy the playing card trivia and magician biography near the end of the book as well as the internet links for further study.
Typical nonfiction features, such as table of contents, glossary and index are included. This well-organized book will keep young magicians busy as they learn and practice some fun magic. Take a look at the other titles in the series, which includes disappearing acts, optical illusions and magic with props. These books won’t be on the shelves for long!
The Door
Aside
Hannah is a 12 year old girl whose life has been sheltered. She and her mother are care takers of a no longer used lighthouse. It has been her families job for generations. Not only are they care takers, but guardians as well. The lighthouse has a special door in it. One that leads to the underworld or City of the Dead as it is known in this tale. Continue reading
The Unicorn in the Barn
Eric Harper’s grandma has been moved into a nursing home. Her home has been sold to help with expenses and Eric is having a hard time adjusting to that reality. After all, the Harper’s have owned this land for as far back as Eric can recall. They’ve loved it and protected it. However, when he learns the new owner, a veterinarian, helps magical creatures, he decides he can learn to adjust. And when he is offered a job caring for some of the creatures he is overjoyed. The trick for him will be to learn how to get along with bossy Allegra, the veterinarian’s daughter.
As the story unfolds we see a hard won understanding and friendship develop between Allegra and Eric. They work together to try to restore grandma’s health. Did you know unicorn hair had healing powers? Neither did they until grandma picked a few stray unicorn hairs off of Eric and soon thereafter had movement in a once feeble hand.
Ogburn delves into the topics of death, loyalty, bravery, just treatment of all living creatures and friendship. The dialog at times seems a little stilted or dated, but savvy readers should be able to adjust. The overall story line is about natural consequences and Ogburn handles the topic well with just enough emphasis without overdoing it.
There’s a surprise at the end of the book that astute readers may guess at midway through.
A first person tale, told in eleven year old Eric’s voice, this realistic fantasy will have the reader wanting more. A sweet story with a little sadness. With a possibility for a sequel.
The Darkest Magic (Spirits and Thieves # 2)
The Darkest Magic is the second book in what will be a trilogy titled Spirits and Thieves. This series is a spin-off of Morgan Rhodes very popular six book Falling Kingdom series. The Spirits and Thieves series will appeal to those who enjoyed the Falling Kingdom series, as it provides insights into the backstory of that series. The Darkest Magic does not stand alone. The reader must read A Book of Spirits and Thieves for The Darkest Magic to make sense. Once the reader reaches for The Darkest Magic, she enters a world of high fantasy.
The first book is of modern day sisters, Crystal and Becca, from Toronto, Canada, who find a book of magic that sends Becca’s spirit to Ancient Mytica. This is a powerful book and there are enemies who would kill them for it. In the second book, the sisters are reunited in modern-day Toronto, but they have to deal with the dangers from the Ancient world, and the danger of the evil Hawkspear Society (a cult-like group), that will do anything to find the sisters and obtain the book.
This is a very exciting contemporary saga that will engage YA readers of fantasy and adventure.
The House of Months and Years
Ten year old Amelia is forced to move to a new home with her parents. She was an only child until now. Now she has to share her life and her parents with her two orphaned cousins, Owen and Matthew. The boys lost their parents as a result of a car crash and now they are part of Amelia’s immediate family. To save Owen and Matthew from further upheaval, Amelia’s parents decide it is best to move into the boys’ home to start their new life together.
From the moment Amelia sets foot on the property, she feels as if she is being watched. Actually, she feels as if it is the house watching her. As fitful sleep and many days of adjustment drone on Amelia begins to discover secrets about and in her new home. She discovers that this house is a rare architectural design known as a calendar house. It is designed on the principal and numbers associated with time. Four floors represent the four seasons. Fifty-two windows represent the fifty-two weeks in a year. Most design items in the house represent some aspect of time.
Amelia soon discovers that her dreams are being stolen by a mysterious old man who can change into a shadow and simply disappear. He promises her magic, immortality and a chance to escape the life that she no longer wants. She longs for the change but feels reluctant. When she realizes that the change will come at a huge price to her family and herself she knows that she must figure out a way to stop the old man. To do this she will need help from her cousins. The same cousins that she can’t even stand to be with in the same room. If they don’t find a way to work together, life as they know it will be forever changed.
Many students will enjoy reading this book. It is just a bit spooky and tense but not too much. I feel Amelia was a bit too defiant given her circumstances; however, much of the dialog was very real. I would recommend this book for high third grade and up.
Rocks Fall Everyone Dies
For those who enjoy the supernatural and magic, Rocks Fall Everyone Dies is a page turning, suspenseful mystery about a teenaged boy who can reach inside people and steal their memories, fears, sadness, and even their love.
The lead character, Aspen Quick, comes from a family who also has these powers, and who have used them for centuries to hold back the cliffs above their village from falling down into the valley. But as is often the case with power, it can be misused, and is in this story.
A coming of age novel that deals with addiction, handling power, and deciding what kind of a person one should be, complicated by the magical power his family welds, Rocks Fall Everyone Dies is best suited for high school aged readers, rather than middle school, due to swearing and sexual scenes (mostly making out).
The Mysterious Woods of Whistle Root
The debut novel by Christopher Pennell, The Mysterious Woods of Whistle Root, is a perfect read-aloud or a read alone for the intended audience. It is a tale of magic and friendship that captivates from the very first sentence:
“In a small town called Whistle Root, rats play music in the moonlight.” From that beginning, nothing that comes later can be too strange to be believed and really makes for a fun, refreshing fantasy.
The rats play music from the rooftops so the owls can dance. There are vegetables appearing on rooftops, of which one character comments: “ I notice that you have a squash on your roof, dear. How lovely. I only have broccoli”. Rats talk and fly on breezes, mysterious messages appear inside a hat that is in a wooden crib in the middle of the woods, strange whispers can place people in a deep sleep and an unique beast appears who likes to adorn himself with owl feathers. It may have been difficult to pull off the sorts of unusual happenings found in this book, but Pennell does it with entertaining ease. He presents the activities and events so casually and deftly that it becomes very easy for the reader to accept them as a natural part of this odd, wonderful world.
The main character is Carly Bean Bitters, a young girl who can only sleep during the day and no one knows why. She is lonely as all children are awake when Carly is asleep. One magical night that all changes when Carly becomes friends with Lewis, a violin-playing rat. Lewis has lost two members of his musical trio. When a member is missing from the band a vegetable stands in “for you must always have exactly three members.” Lewis already has a squash on Carly’s rooftop but Lewis proclaims that “ it would be too embarrassing to have two vegetables in the band and (the squash is a lousy drummer)”. So he asks Carly to join his group.
Soon after, Carly and Lewis become friends with Green. He is a boy who lives with his grandmother underneath the school. Green has a hidden door to his house in a little used, dark area of the school library – the reference section. The three friends set out to uncover the reason for the strange change in behavior among the owls in Whistle Woods. They had always danced to the rats’ music, but now they hunt them instead. Also, Green’s grandma has fallen into a sleep from which she cannot be awakened. Carly and Green are willing to do what is needed to get Grandma back and restore the once peaceful owl and rat relationship. Unraveling the mysteries will help restore everything to “normal”.
The illustrations by Rebecca Bond are charming pen and ink doodlings that complement the text. My first response at seeing the illustrations was disappointment. In our flashy, colorful world I expected the same for the illustrations. However, I realized as I became acquainted with the book that the media choice really was perfect. Pennell provides a wonderful description and Bond provides a nice framework for readers to use their own creative imagination to fill in the color and detail. In the end I thought it was a wise choice.
Others have compared this novel to The Dreamstealer by Sid Fleischman with its storyteller’s voice and the extravagance of its imagination, and Kenneth Grahme, C.S. Lewis, E.B. White and Kate DiCamillo for its well-imagined talking animals… just to name a few.
It has just the right blend of mystery and scary with a fairy tale ending.
I’m a truly hoping that this will be a series, as I would love to get lost in the world of Whistle Root again and again.
The Path of Names
Thirteen year old Dahlia has a summer camp experience like no other.
As part of a bargaining agreement with her parents, she must attend Camp Arava for two weeks. In trade she will then get to go to magic camp at the end of summer. Dahlia wants more than anything to improve her magic skills, so she accepts the deal. From the moment she arrives at Camp Arava unusual things begin to happen. She sees ghost children and she suddenly has inexplicably mad skills for understanding Hebrew. She begins to have visions and dreams of a man that lived seventy years ago. And then there’s the hedge maze; off limits and overgrown, but so enticing.
As the plot thickens so do the supernatural occurrences. A book of Kabala that mysteriously keeps finding its way back into Dahlia’s possesion, voices from the dead and a golem play key roles in unraveling this tale of mystery, spirituality, mysticism and adventure.
The author, Ari Goelman, has created a novel that fills a niche. Religion, mystery and adventure is a combination that is not often seen in children’s books. A component of the story revolves around spirituality and Kabala (Jewish mysticism) but Goelman handles the topic with finesse. He does not overwhelm the reader with in-depth information about the subject. He gives just enough information for a novice to understand and be engaged. Goelman deftly weaves several story lines into one engaging tale.
I found myself caring for the characters and was left wanting more when the story ended. This story might appeal to children who like mysteries, ghost stories, adventure or spirituality. The story is strong enough that if a child did not care for one aspect, it would not be enough to make them walk away. I feel this story could have a wider audience if certain items had not been included. I believe upper elementary students could have enjoyed this book if the following was left out:
In the girls cabin, the girls were to choose between a song or a story, but they wanted “S.O.S.” (sessions on sex). It was quickly overruled by a counselor in training. (p.173) This brief episode added nothing to the story, seemed a bit forced and could easily have been left out.
When a girl gets disturbed while sleeping she blurts out an expletive that some my find offensive. (p. 237)
These two items may seem minor, but when I consider my community’s culture I know this would not be a good choice as it stands. It is a shame too, because this well written, layered tale is one that upper elementary would also enjoy.
Some Magic Cuts Deep…Claws
This chapter books is steeped in fantasy and magic. Our herione, Emma, is on a journey to find her abducted sister. The family is worn from doing everything they possibly can to locate the sister that they are desperate to find. Emma finds herself in a fantastical world of cats, being the chose leader of the pride of cats. As she can’t control her cat-like impulses, she gets expelled from her school and is forced to attend one that has dangerous creatures. Magic, suspense, betrayal await her as she works to locate and rescue her older sister, who under a faeries spell, doesn’t wish to be found and returned to her home. Every chaper has a CragWiki.org fact of the day. This is areal and functioning website, which coordinates with the story.