Jasper Fforde
My rating: ★★★
ISBN: 978-0544104716
Publisher: HMH Books
Date of publication: October 2, 2012
Age: Grades 5 - 9
Genre: Fantasy
Themes: integrity, consumerism, magic, environmentalism
Magic is fading and so is the need for it. Drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and magic carpets are used for pizza delivery. Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Strange is the acting director of Kazam, an employment agency for magicians—but finding business is tough. And then the visions start, predicting the death of the world’s last dragon at the hands of the last Dragonslayer. And then the magicians feel a surge in their magic. Big changes are coming, and Jennifer is in the middle of all of it.
It's a pleasant enough story, although heavily saturated in dry wit and British humor. (I will admit that it did make me laugh.) The characters are thoroughly odd, as well, but it fits the odd story. Jennifer, for instance, though nearly sixteen years old, hardly acts like a teenager; the story itself is skewed towards middle-graders and her personality is rather mature (especially with all of her responsibilities). She's like no sixteen-year-old I've met. Overall, it's a nice story that avoids the angst, drama, relationships, and darkness of many modern teenage fantasy novels. I probably won't read the rest of the series, but I'll still recommend it to the right people. Fans of Douglas Adams for instance...
Find it at your library or on Amazon
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