Zahra, a Jinni, has been imprisoned in her lamp ever since her last master and best friend, Queen Roshana, was killed by a Jinn. She has just resigned herself to an eternity alone when a boy, Aladdin, stumbles across her lamp—and picks it up. Now Aladdin, the son of long-dead revolutionaries, has the power to finally create the change he had believed impossible—and to get revenge on the monarchy that killed his parents.
The School for Good and Evil is the first book in a series of the same name by Soman Chainani. This is a middle-grade fantasy novel that follows two girls in their early teens as they are taken from their hometown and thrust into a school to learn to become either good or evil. Although this is a middle-grade book, it has some more mature themes and insinuating moments in the dialogue.
There is a breakout from Azkaban! Sirius Black is on the loose, and he is trying to find Harry Potter, for Black was a supporter of the Dark Lord. Sirius Black is also known for killing thirteen people with a single curse. Because of Harry Potter’s defeat against the Dark Lord, there was a downfall for all the dark wizards, including Sirius Black. Azkaban guards heard Sirius Black saying “He’s at Hogwarts...He’s at Hogwarts,” which happens to be the place Harry studies at. Even though Harry is protected by spells and Professor Dumbledore, he is not safe.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le. Guin is the classic tale of how Ged, a young wizard, comes into his powers and repairs the mistakes of his youth, restoring balance to the land of Earthsea. Along the way he attends a school of magic, battles a dragon, and faces true evil. I really wanted to love this book. It’s high fantasy with a cult following and I wanted it to capture my heart the way that it has for so many people over the years.
Beatrice Clayborn is a young, powerful sorceress secretly practicing magic in a patriarchal world that doesn’t allow women the freedom of sorcery. Beatrice’s greatest dream is to become a Mage, but her family is relying on her to secure an advantageous marriage in order to avoid financial ruin. There’s only one problem with this — once married, she will be locked into a collar that will cut off her magical powers to protect the children she will inevitably bear.
After her mother dies in a car accident, 16-year-old Bree Matthews enters an Early College program at UNC-Chapel Hill. During her first night on campus, she witnesses a demon attack — one that she shouldn’t be able to see. When a mage’s attempt to erase her memory backfires, her own magical powers are awakened and she uncovers an erased memory from the night of her mother’s death.
Harry Potter thinks he is just a normal ten-year old boy living at his uncle and aunt’s house. Harry thinks that his life is terrible, but what he does not know is that his life is about to get a whole lot more interesting. Harry finds out he is a wizard! When he goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he becomes friends with Ron and Hermione. The Sorcerer’s Stone is moved, which gives the wizard immortality. The Dark Lord is trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter is trying to protect it. Will Harry defeat Voldemort, and save the Wizarding World, or will he fail?
Three Hands for Scorpio is the last adult book for young adults of Lifetime Grand Master of Fantasy, Andre Norton, who passed away on March 17, 2005 after a long and extremely fruitful career. Her magically detailed world-building skills, upright, against-all-odds characters, and fast pace will be sorely missed. Tor rushed a copy of this book of women-of-steel into print, so that the 93-year-old author could see it before she died. It is the last manuscript she penned alone, and has an action-packed storyline.
I previously read Trickster's Choice with courageous teenage girls a little over a decade ago, and I wanted to revisit it. I had forgotten just how easy it is to get drawn into Aly’s adventures which cause her to become a slave as a girl, and I am so glad to have revisited because it was similar to visiting with an old friend. This is the story of Alianne Cooper, who wants to be a girl spy, and is the daughter of Spymaster Cooper and the famous Lioness of Tortall and champion of the throne. Certainly Tamora Pier
After surviving one curse, Samantha Mather never imagined having to combat another. She keeps having vivid dreams of being a first-class passenger aboard the Titanic. Meanwhile, strange artifacts have been appearing around town, as well as visions of spirits who went down with the ship. Even stranger, her close friends have begun acting strangely, and the spring ball has been suspiciously themed after the Titanic.
