Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Half Magic

Half Magic. Edward Eager. 1954/2016. HMH. 224 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: It began one day in summer about thirty years ago, and it happened to four children.

Premise/plot: Edward Eager loved, loved, loved reading E. Nesbit, and was inspired to write magical tales of his own. This is the first book he wrote, I believe. It stars Jane, Mark, Katharine, and Martha. One day Jane accidentally discovers a 'nickel' with magical properties. It grants half-wishes. So if you want a whole wish, you have to word it cleverly or else you'll be mightily disappointed! Of course, the children learn this the hard way! And it's not the only thing they learn either.

My thoughts: I love, love, love, love this one. It is so fun and charming and just like Nesbit--in a good way! It had me from hello.

"The library was two miles away, and walking there with a lot of heavy, already-read books was dull, but coming home was splendid--walking slowly, stopping from time to time on different strange steps, dipping into the different books." (4)

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

No comments: