Half Magic

Title: Half Magic
Author: Edward Eager
ISBN: 0152020683

Review/Summary: I first read this book when I was 10 years old. I adored it. I re-read it for this class so I could see if I still found it amusing, smart, and suitable for tweens. I do! Eager has a writing style similar to George MacDonald or C.S. Lewis in that he makes himself a part of the story. The book is openly a story being told by an author. While narrating, Eager says all sorts of amusing things. In Half Magic, he tells the story of four siblings who find a magic talisman at the start of summer vacation. When one of the children touches the talisman and makes a wish, the wish comes true... halfway. Because the charm only half grants wishes, the children must become adept at wishing for twice what they truly want. Martha, the youngest, accidentally wishes her cat could talk. Unfortunately, the cat can only half talk. She doesn't meow anymore, but all that comes out of her mouth is jumbled nonsense. Half words. It takes Martha quite a few tries before she can successfuly fix things. Martha, Katherine, Mark and Jane go through several adventures during their summer vacation, some purposefully and some accidentally. Of course, while meeting King Arthur and travling through the desert on camel-back, the children learn all sorts of lessons. Eager wrote Half Magic in the 1950s, and sometimes it shows. But overall the book is incredibly enjoyable and imaginative. Even better, most of Eager's other titles tie in with this one, making for a kind of series reading. I'd recommend Half Magic to smart younger readers with a penchant for magical adventure.