After almost a year of anticipation since the release of The Kindling, Book 1 in the Middle School Magic series, written by Braden Bell, comes the sequel, Penumbras, Book 2.
There are ten good reasons to read the book and one good reason not to.
10. Explosive beginning
9. Excitement on every page
8. Fun and relatable characters
7. Action, action, action
6. Great writing
5. Creative. No, like seriously creative
4. Unpredictable
3. Fascinating world of Magi
2. Scary world of the Darkhands
1. Surprise ending
The only reason not to read the book?
1. Don’t own it yet!
Book Blurb
Conner Dell didn’t mean to blow up the school bus.
Or the bathrooms.
In fact, he only wanted to go to sleep and possibly dream about Melanie Stephens.
But explosions had a funny way of happening when Conner and his friends were around.
Conner Dell wants to be good-he really does. But he is terrified that he might be turning into a Darkhand, especially when new powers start to surface. What’s worse, the Stalker is following Conner, but no one else seems to be able to see him. The Magi think he might be hallucinating, the guilt of what happened in the Shadowbox keeps weighing on him, and his relationship with Melanie Stephens is complicating things. Even for a Magi, Conner knows his life is anything but normal.
My Review
Every reader finds a little bit of themselves in characters in books, that’s what makes us connect and care about what happens to them. It’s also what makes us want to come back for more. In his series, Middle School Magic, Braden Bell has created a fantasy world where good and evil explode into high octane action and excitement, but still manages to give us characters, the Magi, that grow and change and struggle, just like we do. The fun is not knowing exactly how the characters are going to succeed against huge obstacles and super-evil villains known as the Darkhands.
In his recent release, Penumbras, author Bell, doesn’t waste time getting into the action. Conner, his sister Lexa and their friend Melanie, who are all Magi, along with their other friend, Pilaf, are on the annual seventh grade science trip to the Sea Lab at Dauphin Island, Alabama. It doesn’t take long for things to go awry as the evil forces from the Darkhands find them and target Conner, sending him on an perilous adventure that nearly costs him his life several times, yet reveals powers he possesses, powers he never knew he had before.
Bell has created, in great detail, this parallel world of the Magi and Darkhands, and leaves the reader in awe with his vivid descriptions and imagery. There is a constant flow of excitement that builds as tension between the forces of light and dark collide. Thank goodness for moments of humor that helps break the tension and allows us to see how ordinary these extraordinary characters are.
The story takes the reader on a fantastical journey and leads up to an emotional, surprising, and satisfying ending.
I would recommend reading, or re-reading, as the case may be, Book 1, The Kindling, in the series, just to become reacquainted with the characters and plot.
With long, lazy days of summer giving kids plenty of time on their hands, what better way to spend an afternoon than reading a great book? I highly recommend, Penumbras, by Braden Bell.