Monday, November 28, 2011

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Magic Thief

Today’s pick:  The Magic Thief Book 2: Lost by Sarah Prineas

Published by HarperCollins, 2009

Summary:
In the first book of The Magic Thief series, street thief Conn finangles his way into an apprenticeship with important wizard Nevery – who provides support as Conn searches for his “locus magicalus”, a special object that will allow him to talk to wizard magic. Conn’s search for his locus magicalus continues in The Magic Thief: Lost, (after having found it and lost it in Book 1) but since he doesn’t have it, he tries to use the power of explosions to communicate with the magic. After his explosive experiments cause some serious destruction, Conn ends up exiled from his city, Wellmet, but the magic leads him to join his friend Rowan on a journey to Desh to try to fight the mysterious Shadows that are turning the people of Wellmet to stone.

My Take:
If you’re looking to see how to develop a character and see the world through his perspective, this book is a great example. The writing has a good balance of description and action, and the story moves along well. I liked the way journal entries and letters bring in points of view of other characters in the series. This is clearly a middle grade novel, and I think it would be enjoyed by both boys and girls.  

Other Info:
This book is part of The Magic Thief series. The author includes backstory to catch you up on what you’d missed, but I’d definitely recommend beginning with Book 1.

Other books by this author:

Winterling (coming in January 2012)
The Magic Thief
The Magic Thief: Found (Book 3)   


For more info, visit Sarah Prineas’ website.  



7 comments:

  1. I'm not familiar with the Magic Thief series. I'll have to start with Book 1 :)

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  2. I was looking at these for Christmas for my son. I think I'll pick up book one and see if he likes it. Thanks!

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  3. I was looking at these too for my kids! Way to go ER. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not a big middle grade reader.

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  4. My daughter has been waiting to read this because Book I is never in the library when we visit and I keep forgetting to request it for her. The series is just her thing!

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  5. I love this series, love it! Thanks for featuring it.

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  6. These have been on my TBR list for far too long!

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  7. Yeah, I think this series would be a really great gift for a young MG reader who is interested in magic.

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