Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Book Review- The Familiars


By Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson
Published by Harper Collins
To Be Released on September 7th, 2010
Ages: 8-12
Source: Publisher
5 stars- Highly Recommend

The fate of the kingdom is in the paws of an ordinary alley cat- and the result is pure magic.

Meet Aldwyn as the scrappy orphan cat runs right into the biggest adventure of his life. Chosen by Jack, a young wizard in training, to be his familiar, Aldwyn's biggest challenge seems to be convincing the two other familiars-the know it all blue jay Sklyar and the friendly tree frog Gregory-that he, too, has magical powers. Then the unthinkable happens. Jack and his fellow wizard apprentices are captured by the evil queen of Vastia- and the familiars must save them!

At once fresh and familiar, this brilliant fantasy adventure-an irresistible blend of real heart, edge of your seat action, and laugh out loud humor-shows that friendship and courage come in many forms.

The Familiars is such a great, action packed, full of humor, quick, fun and engaging read. I think this is one book that middle graders, and fans of good old magical adventures will enjoy reading. With a loyal trio of unlikely heros, Aldwyn, Gilbert and Skylar had me laughing out loud, and wishing I had pet companions like them.

The familiars are animal companions with magical abilities who become life long companions with a young human apprentice. When Aldwyn, Gilbert and Sklyar's Wizard apprentices are kidnapped by the evil queen, they set off to save them. Their action packed journey is one of danger, plots twits and of personal growth, as Aldwyn has to face the lies he's been telling, that he has no magic powers. He's not the only one with secrets.

I really enjoyed Aldwyn's character. The story is told from his point of view and we get to see how far he's grown from being a scrappy alley cat, to accidentally finding himself as a Familiar and what his new found power is. With Aldwyn's instinct for survival, Skylar's need to learn human magic and Gilbert's funny one liners, this trio's talents will make for an adventure they won't ever forget, nor will readers.

I am really looking forward to more books in this series. You can find out more about The Familiars here http://www.thefamiliars.com/ and here http://thefamiliars.blogspot.com/.
I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Good children's literature appeals not only to
the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
~ Anonymous ~