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A review by hweezbooks
City of Stolen Magic by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This wonderful new middle grade book imagines a spunky girl’s journey from her home in India to London.
On the day Chompa disregards the warning against using her finger magic, her Ammi (mother) tries to quell it and is discovered and taken away.
With the help of an old friend, Chompa goes off after her, traveling on a fast ship powered by a tree djinn. For Chompa and others like her are djinnborn or djinnspeakers, able to think or write words to do magic and manipulate the elements.
In a Dickensian London, these magical children live among the beggars and urchins, “defeated and dirty”. And many have gone missing.
Sir Clive Devaynes (names derived from real people from the East India Company) of the “East Merchant Company” is collecting them for a nefarious purpose.
This was a glorious adventure, not difficult for a reader unfamiliar with this history to grasp. And so vividly realised with a strong voice, especially Chompa’s.
This book is pitched for 9-14, and I agree: it has the complexity for upper middle grade and a further layer of stolen magic as a voice for India’s colonized past.
In her afterword, historian Nazneen Ahmed Pathak says she was “profoundly influenced by…the idea that magic is still real in some places, and that words have the power to protect us from harm.” Highly recommend!
📚: @times.reads (ARC)
On the day Chompa disregards the warning against using her finger magic, her Ammi (mother) tries to quell it and is discovered and taken away.
With the help of an old friend, Chompa goes off after her, traveling on a fast ship powered by a tree djinn. For Chompa and others like her are djinnborn or djinnspeakers, able to think or write words to do magic and manipulate the elements.
In a Dickensian London, these magical children live among the beggars and urchins, “defeated and dirty”. And many have gone missing.
Sir Clive Devaynes (names derived from real people from the East India Company) of the “East Merchant Company” is collecting them for a nefarious purpose.
This was a glorious adventure, not difficult for a reader unfamiliar with this history to grasp. And so vividly realised with a strong voice, especially Chompa’s.
This book is pitched for 9-14, and I agree: it has the complexity for upper middle grade and a further layer of stolen magic as a voice for India’s colonized past.
In her afterword, historian Nazneen Ahmed Pathak says she was “profoundly influenced by…the idea that magic is still real in some places, and that words have the power to protect us from harm.” Highly recommend!
📚: @times.reads (ARC)