Half Magic Edward Eager
I ran across this book while browsing in my local public library (the source of 97% of the kids books that I read). I recognized the author from frequent discussions in various kid lit blogs that I read. The most recent posting I had read about Edward Eager was focused on how cultural changes over time put modern parents, librarians, publishers etc. in a bind -- do you remain faithful to the original and the time and place in which it was written, or do you edit older books to remove what we would now consider racially charged references and terminology? Tough call. I come down on the side of leaving books alone, and using them as a impetus to think about how prevailing cultural norms affect children's literature (and as a way to start discussions about race, gender, etc. with children). Anyway, I digress. I grabbed a book by Edward Eager that had a nice cover (a new edition, with a nice Quentin Blake cover illustration) and decided to read it. As many of you may know, I am not only a fan of modern middle-grade adventure fiction, but I also love the older stuff (particularly pre-wwII syndicate-written series fiction). Edward Eager's stuff from the 1950's doesn't fit either category, but since stuff from the 1950's is also cool, I gave it a shot. [A complete aside, something that happens to be on my mind, and popped up again while I typed out the words "series fiction": A few years ago I got it in my head to make a graphic novel version of the Bobbsey Twin books. I never did it, but every now and then I think about it. I discovered yesterday that someone has made a comic book/graphic novel version of the first few Boxcar Children books. Damn. Every time I don't follow through on a good idea, someone else comes along and does it.]
Half Magic is everything that modern kid fiction is not (at least usually). It is a short book, small and lightweight. There's no trauma, and very little angst beyond what is perfectly normal for kids (summer boredom, an annoying babysitter, a little mild sibling rivalry), with the exception of some brief anger and sorrow one character feels about the possibility of their widowed mother marrying someone. The adults are reasonably competent, decent people. The story is small in scale -- none of this epic, 7 part, world-shattering stuff. But it is a lovely little story, easy to read, has nice 1950's style illustrations (code words for ink line drawing), and it really hits the nail on the head when it comes to how children try to deal with boredom. The basic plot -- a group of kids find a magic object that allows them to make wishes, they get into a few scrapes, and they must learn to use the power wisely -- has been seen before and will be seen again, but Eager does a good job with the details.
Would my 7-year old read it? Nah, not enough pictures. Would he listen to me read it? Yes. And then he'd tell the story to his little brother, and his little brother would proceed to pretend that all the coins in the house were magic.
Half Magic is everything that modern kid fiction is not (at least usually). It is a short book, small and lightweight. There's no trauma, and very little angst beyond what is perfectly normal for kids (summer boredom, an annoying babysitter, a little mild sibling rivalry), with the exception of some brief anger and sorrow one character feels about the possibility of their widowed mother marrying someone. The adults are reasonably competent, decent people. The story is small in scale -- none of this epic, 7 part, world-shattering stuff. But it is a lovely little story, easy to read, has nice 1950's style illustrations (code words for ink line drawing), and it really hits the nail on the head when it comes to how children try to deal with boredom. The basic plot -- a group of kids find a magic object that allows them to make wishes, they get into a few scrapes, and they must learn to use the power wisely -- has been seen before and will be seen again, but Eager does a good job with the details.
Would my 7-year old read it? Nah, not enough pictures. Would he listen to me read it? Yes. And then he'd tell the story to his little brother, and his little brother would proceed to pretend that all the coins in the house were magic.
Half Magic
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