Magic

Chessie Bligh

Posted on September 18, 2013 by webmaster

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Chessie Bligh
by Thora Gabriel

Chessie Bligh is a parentally neglected fourteen year old girl whose only friend is her Shih Tzu puppy named Wugghert. Out of defiance towards her absentee parents, Chessie trades places with another girl named Aelyn whom she encounters when their airplane flights from Europe to America (to attend boarding schools) is delayed in New York.

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Chessie, taking the place of Aelyn, arrives in Sterntaler, where she discovers a hidden elf encampment at the north rim of the Grand Canyon which is hidden from discovery by humans through the use of magic. That’s also where Chessie discovers that she has magical powers and can change the course of history. But there is a fourteen year old series of elfin murders she must solve and a killer to bring to justice. Chessie also comes to realize that Sternfaler isn’t so much a place as it is a multidimensional world where shape shifting, spells, and magical creatures abound. Most of all, Sternfaler is where her elf destiny begins!

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
640	Middle School	292	Fantasy	2006	0595835791

Sabriel

Posted on September 16, 2013 by webmaster

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Sabriel
by Garth Nix

The novel is set in two neighboring fictional countries: To the south lies Ancelstierre, which has a technology level and society similar to that of early-20th century England, and to the north lies the Old Kingdom, where magic works and dangerous spirits roam the land – a fact officially denied by the government of Ancelstierre and disbelieved by most of Ancelstierre’s inhabitants. (Those who live near the border know the truth of it, especially on days when the wind is blowing out of the Old Kingdom.) These dangerous spirits range from undead corpses known as Dead Hands to supernatural beings known as Free Magic elementals.

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These living Dead are raised by Necromancers, or black magicians, who roam the Old Kingdom or live in Death, using Hands to do their bidding. To remedy the problem of dangerous, living dead, there is always a sorcerer with the title of Abhorsen, who is essentially a Necromancer himself (or herself), only in the reverse; he puts the dead to rest. At the time of Sabriel, it is her father, Terciel, who has the job of controlling the endless dead creatures doing evil deeds around the Wall, especially difficult since a new evil seems to be rising.

Sabriel is joined on her journey back to the Old Kingdom by an ancient Free Magic construct of unknown origin named Mogget. Mogget appears in the form of a white cat and is bound by a red Charter magic collar to serve the Abhorsen. Sabriel is told never to release Mogget’s collar. Sabriel and Mogget take a craft known as a Paperwing to try to find her father. On the way, they are attacked by the Dead. The craft is wrecked, and in order to save herself, Sabriel releases Mogget. The cat reveals himself to be an incredibly powerful Free Magic elemental. It almost kills Sabriel, but she rebinds him with a ring she received from him a few hours before for just such a purpose.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
880	High School	491	Fantasy	1995	0064471837

Thirteenth Princess

Posted on September 15, 2013 by webmaster

Thirteenth Princess
by Diane Zahler

A king is increasingly angry with his wife for giving him daughters. When she dies in childbirth bearing a thirteenth daughter, he banishes the newborn to the castle kitchens in his rage. At seven, sort-of servant Zita learns she is sister to the princesses and daughter to the king. She doesn’t bemoan her lot, but she does sneak around behind her father’s back befriending her lovely older siblings. Happily, the older girls are very willing to take her under their wings. Zita also befriends a stable boy named Breckin whose brother is a soldier.

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It isn’t until she is older that Zita begins to worry that her sisters might be under a spell. For one thing, the twelve princesses don’t understand themselves why whenever suitors come to call, they are unable to speak. Thus they all remain unmarried. Then Zita’s sisters begin to appear weary and sickly, and their shoes start turning up with the soles worn through every morning.

With Breckin’s assistance, Zita investigates her sisters’ troubles; she also discovers a helpful witch living in hiding in the woods. (The king has banned magic from the kingdom, or so he thinks.) But someone is watching Zita, and she still hasn’t figured out who is behind the malevolent spells. She even worries that the king himself has done this terrible thing to his daughters. Of course, our heroine eventually discovers the truth and saves her sisters.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
850L	Middle School	265	Fantasy	2010	0061824984