Browsing: Magic

The Mythomaniacs is well-suited to middle-school readers but is also sure to enchant younger readers as a read-along story. It is also a great stepping-off point for introducing readers to some of the great classics: such as Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poem Jabberwocky and the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

In 43 relatively short digestible chapters, author Gwen Dandridge has weaved a mysterious and magical tale centered round the historic 1400s when Arabs and Christians were at war over holy lands. Drenched in Islamic culture, the rich backdrop for this suspense-building novel is the magnificent Alhambra Palace.

This should be a sad tale but instead is up-lifting. Much of that is due to the protagonist’s wry voice: Twelve-year-old Bee (short for Beatrice) is an orphan and works for a traveling carnival, living in the back of a truck with nineteen-year-old Pauline.