Review: FANTASY, YES, BUT FOR WHAT AGE GROUP?
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 06 29, 2013
Would you leave a group of four children under 12 alone all day during summer vacation? Well, the author did mention a woman who was supposed to come by and check on them 'later'. This group includes a pair of feuding sisters, a set of twins, and the guy next door who comes to eat them out of house and home AND monopolize the television; that makes the count five.This is definitely a fantasy. Though the story stars preteens, the book included words I had to look up, plus a few others not used in every day teen speak. As a quilter I know what templates are. The only youth I see at my local fabric store are Mennonite.This story starts with an accidental conjuring, just wait and see how, but at least the dragon can speak and tells sis where to take her. It's just a short trip and naturally everyone has to go. The spooky outside of the house hides a cheery, modern inside with a beautiful woman who isn't quite a witch. But she can work a few spells and knows the right people.ROAD TRIP!!Unfortunately, evil lurks in the cave occupied by the man who should have saved the day. Suddenly there is more than one dragon to change.The cute 'sort of a witch' known by the 12 year old sister has a jealous rival, a woman who describes herself as ugly.Somehow our quintet arrives on an island populated by dragons. Some of them are in no hurry to get home because time runs differently in this realm. Five days here could be five minutes in their old neighborhood. But the eleven year old sister, the neat freak, learns of an old prediction, one that seems to fit two members of their party of five.This is when the action really starts, and someone from the dragon island turns out to be the enemy. Be sure you pay close attention to each detail, or you'll get lost.Although this is a chapter book with pre-teen stars, because of the vocabulary I think the author would be better off changing the ages of the characters and marketing the book to young teenagers.I need to say one thing: I don't like the word ugly. The evil woman calls herself ugly and is called ugly by others in this book. I've heard teenagers hurl that word at each other, and watched it do more damage than fists. Who ever said,"Words will never hurt me", was an idiot. Words hurt a lot.I wish the author had chosen to inflict something impossible upon her evil witch, impossible in the human realm anyway. Maybe give her orange and green stripes. I doubt there's a person on Earth with orange and green stripes. People might not be afraid of her, but I guarantee no one could stop laughing.