Itâs the summer before high school and life is about to change for fourteen-year-old Alyssa McCarthy. A sorcerer hexes her with everlasting powers, requiring her to become an enchantress. If she cannot learn to control her magic pronto, she will forget her loved ones and serve as the warlockâs eternal slave.
In order to control her powers, Alyssa must gain control of her emotions. With the struggles of adolescence and disasters everywhere, catastrophes are bound to happen! Itâs only a matter of time before Alyssaâs world changes, for better or worse...
Itâs the summer before high school and life is about to change for fourteen-year-old Alyssa McCarthy. A sorcerer hexes her with everlasting powers, requiring her to become an enchantress. If she cannot learn to control her magic pronto, she will forget her loved ones and serve as the warlockâs eternal slave.
In order to control her powers, Alyssa must gain control of her emotions. With the struggles of adolescence and disasters everywhere, catastrophes are bound to happen! Itâs only a matter of time before Alyssaâs world changes, for better or worse...
Alyssa played the video sheâd made for the upcoming teen film festival. If she submitted it, she would earn five extra points to add to her 70 in math. That would allow her to drop the mandatory extra-help class for students with final scores less than a 75.
She watched the clip, experiencing watery eyes when she heard herself discussing losing her parents in a car crash when she was seven and other tragic events in her life. It concluded with how those times had shaped her into the person she was today, Friday, June 10th, 2011. She exported the project and would upload it to the festivalâs site later. The deadline was not untilÂ
Monday, 7 P.M. So, after this, she could focus on the end-of-middle-school sleepover that would happen today.
But the screen froze, and a small popup stated, âCannot export file.â
âHuh?â
How could a two-month-old device encounter issues already? Alyssa had had to wait until her last birthday, in April, and needed to maintain good grades at school to get her own computer. She recalled what her godfather, Alex, had told her in February after her math substitute had informed him about her scores dropping. âAlyssa, if you donât get your grades up in math, you might not earn that laptop.â He loved and cared for her like a daughter yet shared no blood relation to her family members. Sheâd lived with him since turning thirteen last year.
Her breathing caught at the popupâa new model should not have a virus already. But she told herself, Iâm fourteen and am going to start high school this fall. I can fix this.
The computer turned itself off, closed itself, and crushed Alyssaâs fingers.
âOw!â she cried.
The device slid off her lap and under her bed. She looked underneath itâwithout warning, dust blew onto her, covering her petite body.
She coughed as the soot settled. Then she brushed the dirt off her black shirt and its straps on her narrow shoulders, followed by her short shorts and skin. She shook bits out of her straight, pale-blonde hair, which fell a few inches below her hips.
Sheâd dealt with enough sorcery already, once last year in March and again this past fall.Â
However, neither she nor anybody in her life possessed magic in their blood. From age eight until two springs ago, sheâd believed that magic hadnât existed.
She had interacted with a few magicians when dealing with supernatural situations that no one as young as she should have to experience.
She planned to find that idiot who just ruined her summer by stealing her laptop. AÂ folded piece of paper appeared on her bed and seemed to include the word, laptop, so she read it.
Alyssa,
Your laptop is going to become a new brain-domination computer. The International Magic Control has disabled all the existing ones and has banned any magic from transforming enchanted technology into mind-managing devices. But your laptop is needed exclusively for my particular process.
Also, donât remove your new magic powers. If you try, you might die.
Anonymous
The note vanished into thin air. Alyssa touched her forehead and breathed since wizardry shouldnât work on standard technology. Possibilities advanced over time, but they still had numerous everlasting limits.
Alyssa could not risk performing sorcery anymore after ridding herself in autumn of the powers that a warlock had forced upon her. A skeleton called Errol had jinxed her with involuntary magic, landing her in lots of trouble, including near-expulsion from school. He had claimed that itâd been the only way for him to regain his old, human looks. Alyssa had needed to boost her confidence and bravery levels in order to overthrow Errol. That had taken a few weeks.
She would not allow this new hex to force her to remain home all summer. Otherwise, sheâd have to miss travel camp at the end of this month and a trip to New York City with Alex in August.
Her palms heated, and beams shot out, bouncing against the ceiling and splitting in different directions. One tipped the bookshelf, and all the books tumbled out onto the wooden floor. It merged with the other shaft, smashed into the deskâknocking everything downâand disappeared in a snap.
Alyssa stared, her fist clenching and her face reddening. Without admonishment, another glimmer flew out of her hands and hit her bed, causing everything to tumble into the air. The blankets crumpled, and a few pillows were tossed onto the rug by the mattress. The ray vanished.
Alyssa gazed into her palms because that catastrophe reminded her of the enchantments sheâd performed in the fall.
âUgh!â She covered her face.
The downstairs door shut, suggesting that Alex had returned from walking Scooter, the yellow lab.
âAlyssa, is everything okay?â he asked.
âNo!â She sat on her bed, not wanting to remake it, even though Alex required it when she didnât have school. Iâm never going to get through this stupid mess.
Each opening on her bookshelf had contained books based on their genres. Fantasy ones had been together on one level. The same applied to the mystery, literary fiction, and non-fiction.Â
But, thanks to sorcery, they had all scattered around the floor. Her desk items had also been arranged based on their purposes. The writing utensils, stationery, and art supplies had scattered along with the literature piles.
She grabbed some items from the floor, wishing she could reschedule her slumber party, thanks to the current disaster. Her three closest friends, Sydney Watson, Lily Browne, and Krystal Gordillo, had witnessed her issues with magic in autumn. Although Claudia Carano and Grace Yen, the other two friends coming, had been in the hospital back then, they should understand as well.
âWhat happened?â Alex called from the hallway outside.
âStupid stuff!â
Alex thumped and opened the door. He clapped his hand over his mouth, hiding much of his goatee.
âI didnât mean it,â Alyssa said, âit was my new magic powers.â
Alex froze, his eyes popping. He ran his hand down his shoulder-length, light-brown hair.
âI donât know who cursed me this time,â Alyssaâs body warmed more as she stared into her hands and breathed. But she gritted her teeth and slapped her thighs.
Dizziness took over her head, though, and data entered her mind. It seemed to have come from the English marble figure and mentor, Simon, who had aided her before in previous magicrelated times. He shared that her computer would never come back.
He must have made a mistake, Alyssa thought.
Simon possessed lots of foreknowledge about many things, but he couldnât succeed with his predictions all the time. The ability never left him, not even if someone temporarily froze him using sorcery. That had happened at least twice before, but heâd thawed and revived again.
Alyssaâs phone sounded a text alert, and she read the message on her device.
Hi, Alyssa, itâs Simon, your old mentor. Your laptop is on an Atlantic island calledÂ
Resurrection Island, with a wizard named Boo-Champ Corey. He sent you that note about your computer and powers.
Alyssaâs jaw dropped, and she replied. Why?
âWhatâs going on?â
âMy laptop is on some island in the Atlantic.â
Alexâs chest sucked in. His phone received a text message, too, so he left the room and looked into it.
Alyssaâs device received a response from Simon.
Your fingerprints can reveal your previous connection with Master Beau.
Her guts twisted. Master Beau had harmed her last year after that connection had peaked.Â
Heâd not only revealed to her that sorcery existed but had also kidnapped and taken her to Fiji.Â
There, heâd planned to enslave and weaken her so that he could gain more strength. Had Simon not warned her about him or guided herâalong with two human magiciansâto defeat Master Beau, she might not have survived.
Alyssa responded. How could I still have the connection if Master Beau is gone?
Simon answered.
Due to his level of power, there is still a little bit of magic in you that connects to him, and only that can enchant your laptop. Itâs too late to undo anything, though.
Pain overtook Alyssa all over, so she called Simon, and he answered.
âWhy didnât you stop Boo-Champ Corey?â
âHe wouldâve hurt me.â
âYou can signal to save someone or something as quickly as the speed of sound, though.âÂ
âMay I talk to you in person?â
âWhy?â
âMy phoneâs dying, and Iâm having trouble creating a holographic screen.â
âSo? Charge your phone with that magical-electronic charging spell.â
âItâs not working right for some reason. Iâll talk to you soon.â Simon hung up.
Alyssa sighed. Both Master Beau and Errol had blocked Simonâs access to their minds because they had high strength levels. However, if Simon knew that Boo-Champ Corey had Alyssaâs computer, then he should have gathered more knowledge from himâunless he stopped it, too. Or, perhaps, Simon had already signaled something to Resurrection Island, only for it to bounce back for whatever reason.
Alex knocked again. âAre you okay, Alyssa?â
âMy laptopâs gone!â she stomped. âI was so close to submitting my video⌠which took weeks and couldâve possibly gotten me five extra points on the freaking 70 I got for math?âÂ
She inhaled and exhaled.
Alex opened the door and gazed at her with glassy eyes. âI heard about that, too.â
âLet me guess. Simon texted you, too.â
Alex nodded.
Alyssa sat on her bed and crossed her arms. âThis is⌠ugh!â
Alex joined her and put his arm around her. âSweetheart, Iâm sorry this happened to you. But there are things we canât undo or get back.â
Alyssa moaned.
âLook, tomorrow, right after your friends leave, we can go buy you a new laptop.â
âI donât want another laptop.â
Alex sighed. âThereâs nothing else we can do.â
âIf I have to redo that video all over again, itâs not going to come out as good.â Alyssa looked down. âItâs not going to be the same.â
âWhy donât you look through your math syllabus and see if there are other community service projects you can do to get extra points on your final grade?â
Alyssa flushed. âOh, shoot. I threw it away on Wednesday.â
Alex let go of her, his mouth opening. Alyssa covered her cheeks. Sheâd tossed it in the trash after coming home from her middle school moving-up ceremony that night. And the garbage truck had emptied the dumpster yesterday.
âAlyssa, that wasnât smart.â
âIâm sorry. I didnât know.â
Alex stood. âMaybe you can ask your friends if they can show you their math syllabi.â He closed the door and left.
Alyssa banged her fists on the bed.
She and Alex had bought supplies, snacks, and even baked cupcakes. But she saw no point in holding the party today since Boo-Champ Corey had stolen her computer, and sheâd received everlasting magic. Alex shouldnât have left her like that.
His kindness toward her had made her parents designate him as a legal guardian after theyâd named him godfather to her. Unlike many children, Alyssa had received a godparent after infancy, at age five.
The last time Alex had been in contact with her family was ten years before then. When he was eighteen, and her mother was twenty-three, the two had dated. However, in their spring semester of college, Alex had lost Alyssaâs momâs wallet, and sheâd broken up with him.
Alex had gone out with another woman from Alyssaâs birth until she was four and a half years old. His then-girlfriend had perished from a snake bite. Alex had found Alyssaâs motherâs old phone number and called her. Sheâd felt sorry for what heâd gone through, so sheâd let him back into her life.
Despite what Alyssaâs parents had stated in their will when theyâd lost their lives, her then-babysitter had convinced the police to let Alyssa stay with her aunt and uncle. Later, New Jersey's state had made Aunt Laura and Uncle Bruce Alyssaâs legal guardians, instead of Alex, to avoid complications. Alyssa remembered that day in January 2005, when Alex told her that he had to part from her, several days after her parentsâ deaths.
âWait, Alex, arenât you going to take me with you?â
âI canât. You have to stay here with Aunt Laura and Uncle Bruce.â
âBut I thought mommy and daddy said you were going to take care of me if something happened to them.â
âYes, but that had to change.â
Alyssa groaned.
âI promise Iâll come and visit you now and then.â
âYou sure?â
âPositive.â
Yet, after Aunt Laura had died when Alyssa was nine, Uncle Bruce had forbidden her to contact or see Alex. She hadnât spoken to him again until she had discovered magic and had Master Beau hunting her down.
Alyssa experienced dizziness and covered her head. Simon gave her more information about Boo-Champ Corey. This time, it focused on how he had helped a sorceress named Mistress Margaret regain her powers. In addition to her abilities, Mistress Margaret also used knowledge from a forgotten woman named Prudence Gibson. And Prudence happened to be... Alyssaâs long-lost godmother.
Alyssaâs muscles stiffened. She wondered why her parents had told her that theyâd baptized her as a baby without godparentsâsomething that couldnât happen. They had also mentioned how the archdiocese at their Catholic church had made an exception, withdrawing the godparent requirement for her. Then he had needed to invalidate her christening. But, perhaps, something else had happened.
Why had everyone believed those things? How come Alyssa couldnât remember her godmother? Had some powerful magician made everyone forget her? Could Mistress Margaret have been the one to wipe and alter every personâs memory?
Alyssa swallowed. If thatâd been the case, then she mustâve retained enough strength to make every non-magical individual believe that magic did not exist and assume that everything had stayed normal.
Simon texted her again. My phone is dying, and the spell to recharge it is not working for some reason. Nor is my holographic screen communication enchantment working. May I appear in your room to talk to you about Boo-Champ Corey and what you need to do? Iâll let your godfather know, too.
Yes, Alyssa answered.
A Series of Unfortunate Events meets Harry Potter in a simplified version of orphan girl gets magic powers and goes on an adventure to save the day. This book felt like a simplified version of Harry Potter - some young readers may get a kick out of the soft similarities but I found it overly simplified as far as world-building and visual imagery. There's even a cheeky reference to Harry Potter in the way Alyssa finds out she's a wizard. Though this book is not original, the randomness of the details of the plot might keep a reader intrigued. It's hard to tell what magical rule the author will invent that Alyssa will found out next. To a more advanced reader, this makes the story feel disjointed like it was written quickly and without an outline.
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The language, flow, and writing style could use more editing, which younger readers might not notice. There were a number of odd phrasings and awkward sentences as if English in this world is similar but not quite the same as our contemporary and current language. The dialogue, especially, felt odd with very little to no differentiation between Alyssa's five friends: Claudia, Grace, Lily, Sydney, and Krystal. Grace had the most memorable personality trait and even that felt shallow.
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The ideas about magic are highly specific, imaginative, and seem very random, much like the mind of a kid playing magic and wizards in the backyard. For example, the following rule seems arbitrary while at the same time hilarious, "Wizards can't create anything copyrighted, patented, or trademarked out of thin air, including board games and crafts." (E-edition, 97%). Many, many small rules are introduced like this without much context or explanation throughout the book. If you are a highly imaginative reader, you might get a kick out of these fun magic rules, but if you aren't able to visually imagine them yourself outside of this story, they will feel like unnecessary and random tidbits of information and the magic world won't feel exciting or real. I really wanted more descriptive details to make this story come alive.
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The book lacks the finesse of others in the fantasy genre but there might be enough to capture the attention of an elementary school reader. This book is most likely too simple for a middle school reader who is at their current reading level. The main character, Alyssa, is in eighth grade. For most of the book, she's a passive character and most of the action happens to her until the end when she suddenly and easily is able to control her new magic.Â