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Showing posts from August, 2024

The view from Saturday

    The view from Saturday Genre-  Children's fiction Author -  E. L. Konisburg Tagline - "Nadia's prize was to select their group's name- 'The Souls'" The view from Saturday is a children's novel by E.L. Konisburg. It is about a group of four children, Noah, Nadia, Ethan and Julian who name themselves "The souls". They train under their paraplegic teacher, Ms. Eva Marie Olinski, for the Academic Bowl competition. When they win the competition, their teacher is often asked how she chose the team, a question to which she does not have the answer.  The story Uses a unique narrative structure. In the first few chapters, one chapter details a question of the Superbowl final, and the next is about an incident in the answering child's life. Noah relates his experience at being the best man at his grandfather's friend's wedding, and learning calligraphy. Nadia talks about saving pet turtles. Ethan talks about meeting Julian and attending...

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Vol1

  The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Vol1 Genre-  Bildungsroman, Adventure, Magic, Fantasy Author - Diana Wynne Jones Tagline - "The castle had a stifling atmosphere for anyone who wanted to practice magic as Gwendolen realised" The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Vol1 is a part of a series. It comprises of 2 books - Charmed Life and The lives of Christopher Chant. Both are set in the fictional universe of Chrestomanci. This universe consists of a series of interconnected worlds, each of which again  comprises of a series of mini-worlds. Some worlds have magic while others do not. To prevent witches and wizards dominating over non magical people, a government official known as Chrestomanci is tasked with maintaining law and order. Due to the nature of the post, only a nine lived enchanter can become a Chrestomanci.  Charmed Life tells the story of siblings Gwendolen and Eric (Cat) Chant who come from a powerful family of witches and wizards. Gwendolen is an extremely powerful...

The Witch's Boy

The Witch's Boy Genre -  Bildungsroman, Adventure, Magic, Fantasy Author-   Kelly Barnhill Tagline - Can Ned trust Aine and can she  trust him? The story takes place in a land which is divided by a thick and unwieldy forest. On one side,  Ned and Tam, 2 identical twins, are sailing on a raft, when it capsizes. They are caught in the struggle for their lives. Their father only manages to save one, Ned. This incident leaves Ned stuttering and the village starts whispering that the father has saved the wrong twin. The adventure starts when the Bandit King, along with the king of the other side of the forest, decides to steal Ned's mother's magic. When Ned runs away to escape the King, he meets the bandit king's practical daughter, Aine. She has been instructed that the wrong boy will save her life and she his. The story is about whether Ned and Aine can trust each other enough to save each others lives, kingdoms and family. Each of the main characters deals with grief, ...