SCHOOL OF MAGIC

There is a new wizard boy on the block.

And his name is Callum Hunt. Raised by his magic-hating father, Call grows up thinking that all magicians are evil, and were responsible for his mother's death when he was merely a baby. So when he is called to take the mandatory exams that might lead to his acceptance to the Magisterium, he is carefully coached by his father to do everything in order to fail. But although he tries very hard to fail (to fail), Call is picked nonetheless and has to attend his first year - the Iron Year - at the Magisterium. Together with his new friends Tamara and Aaron, Callum is coached by Master Rufus in magic skills in preparation for the Iron Trial, which will signify the end of the school year. But there is more to the world of magic than Callum knows, and he slowly starts to wonder if his father was right in cautioning him against it. There is an enemy that has been hidden for years waiting to resurface - calling himself the Enemy of Death -who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

The Iron Trial is the first book of a projected five-book series from popular children's and young adult literature writers Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. Readers will find many similarities with the Harry Potter series, but whether this is a bad or a good thing is up to the reader to decide.


For grades 5 and up.

MAGICIANS AVAILABLE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

Jennifer Strange - eh, what's in a name - is responsible for finding jobs for all the magicians and wizards of the world. Oh, and she's also the last dragonslayer in the history of the world. Also, there is only one more dragon and he's going to die. Rumor has it that once this dragon dies, "BIG MAGIC" will return. Because magic lately has been pretty hard to come by. So it is up to Jennifer to determine the fate of magic whether she wants to or not. Luckily, this story is very funny because if it wasn't it would be very sad. But you will laugh a lot. Especially if you liked Adam Rex's True Meaning of Smek Day or anything in Brian Sanderson's Alcatraz series. 

THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER by Jasper Fforde is sure to delight the fantasy/science fiction fan who like a little comedy here and there to lighten things up. For grades 5 and up.

AUGUST 2013

WORLDLY WOMEN WIZARDS!

Everybody needs a wizard in their life. Kit and Nita are just two new wizards in a big big world, and spend practically every waking moment together, practicing their craft. That is, until Nita's parents decide she needs a break from wizardry and ship her off to Ireland! No wizards there, right? WRONG! Turns out Nita's Aunt Annie is herself entrenched in the wizardly ways of Ireland, and it isn't long before Nita is embroiled in a great wizard's adventure. A WIZARD ABROAD by author Diane Duane is just one installment in her fantastic Wizardry series that is bound to delight most fantasy lovers. Each one has a little hint of romance which make it very appealing to that "tween" kid who's not quite ready to give up the imaginary worlds of talking trees and magic, but are still interested in a little love... For grades 6 and up.

HALLOWEEN READS

My Dog's a Scaredy Cat: A Halloween Tail by Henry Winkler

The tenth in the Hank Zipzer series. This time Hank and his friends set out to make the scariest haunted house ever to impress everyone this Halloween. For 4th -6th

Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man by Wendelin Van Draanen

It's Halloween and Sammy and her friends are trick-or-treating when they are almost run down by someone in a skeleton costume. Once again Sammy is thrown into a middle of a mystery goes off in search of who tied up "Frankenstein" and what did the skeleton steal? For 6th - 8th

Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson

Which witch will the Wizard marry? All the local witches compete to be the great wizard's wife and they create the most amazing magic to impress him. But one beautiful witch can only make beautiful white magic and not black magic like the others. Does she stand a chance? For 4th -6th

Whispering to Witches by Anna Dale

On his way to vacation with this mom and stepfamily, Joe accidentally stumbles upon a coven of witches among the human population and is pulled into a mystery to help them find a missing magical page. For 6th - 8th

All Hallows' Eve by Vivian Vande Velde

Set on Halloween Eve this collection of short stories will scare you with tales of murder, cemeteries and the dead (or is it the undead?). For 6th - 8th

Witch Child by Celia Rees

The diary of a young girl escaping one witch hunt in the Old World only to find that she must hide her true nature once she arrives in 1659 Salem. Witches are blamed for everything that is wrong and she must hide her abilities from the villagers who have taken her in. For 6th - 8th

TO RESCUE A PRINCE

Cornelius the wizard, Gurkintrude the fey, Hans the giant, and Odge the Hag are in charge of rescuing the prince from the human world on the other side of the Gump. That is THE SECRET OF PLATFORM 13, also the title of this book by Eva Ibbotson. Nine years earlier, the last time the Gump passageway between the worlds was open, the prince was kidnapped by an evil woman named Mrs. Trottle. The King and Queen have longed for the return of their only child, and send the crew of four from the Island, an almost mythical place hidden to most humans by a thick mist. But the nine-year-old boy, Raymond, turns out to be a lot less like a prince than they would've hoped, and some strange events change the lives of more than one boy by the end of the book! For 4th grade and older.