Synopses & Reviews
The day Sacha found out he could see witches was the worst day of his life . . .
Being an Inquisitor is no job for a nice Jewish boy. But when the police learn that Sacha Kessler can see witches, heand#8217;s apprenticed to the departmentand#8217;s star Inquisitor, Maximillian Wolf. Their mission is to stop magical crime. And New York at the beginning of the twentieth century is a magical melting pot where each ethnic group has its own brand of homegrown witchcraft, and magical gangs rule the streets from Helland#8217;s Kitchen to Chinatown.
Soon Sacha has teamed up with fellow apprentice Lily Astral, daughter of one of the cityand#8217;s richest Wall Street Wizardsand#8212;and a spoiled snob, if you ask Sacha. Their first case is to find out whoand#8217;s trying to kill Thomas Edison.
Edison has invented a mechanical witch detector that could unleash the worst witch-hunt in American history. Every magician in town has a motive to kill him. But as the investigation unfolds, all the clues lead back to the Lower East Side. And Sacha soon realizes that his own family could be accused of murder!
Review
"An uncommonly engaging young narrator kicks this debut fantasy ahead of the general run....All in all a sturdy start..." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"Fantasy and adventure lovers alike will groan when they get to the tantalizingly mischievous ending, and are likely to hound you until the sequel arrives." School Library Journal
Synopsis
In a city that runs on a dwindling supply of magic, a young boy is drawn into a life of wizardry and adventure.
Conn should have dropped dead the day he picked Nevery's pocket and touched the wizard's locus magicalicus, a stone used to focus magic and work spells. But for some reason he did not. Nevery finds that interesting, and he takes Conn as his apprentice on the provision that the boy find a locus stone of his own.
But Conn has little time to search for his stone between wizard lessons and helping Nevery discover who or what is stealing the city of Wellmet's magic.
Synopsis
Discover the fantasy and wonder of The Magic Thief, the first book in Sarah Prineas's acclaimed middle grade fantasy series Diana Wynne Jones, author of Howl's Moving Castle, said: "I couldn't put it down. Wonderful, exciting stuff."
In a city that runs on a dwindling supply of magic, a young boy is drawn into a life of wizardry and adventure. Conn should have dropped dead the day he picked Nevery's pocket and touched the wizard's locus magicalicus, a stone used to focus magic and work spells. But for some reason he did not. Nevery finds that interesting, and he takes Conn as his apprentice on the provision that the boy find a locus stone of his own. But Conn has little time to search for his stone between wizard lessons and helping Nevery discover who--or what--is stealing the city of Wellmet's magic.
Synopsis
Magic, mayhem, and humor abound in this riveting middle-grade adventure, the sequel to The Inquisitor's Apprentice.
Synopsis
and#8220;A fabulously imaginative historical fantasy.and#8221;and#8212;
Publishers Weekly, starred review of
The Inquisitorand#8217;s Apprentice At the turn of the twentieth century, New Yorkand#8217;s Bowery District becomes the scene of a terrible murder when the Klezmer King gets fried to a crisp by his Electric Tuxedoand#8212;on stage! Theand#160;Inquisitorand#8217;s apprentice, thirteen-year-oldand#160;Sacha Kessler, tries to help find the killer, but the closer he gets to solving the crime, the more it sounds as if the creature that haunted him in his first adventure is back. Worse still, his own Jewish family is in danger. Sacha has avoided learning magic until now, but as his world falls apart around him, he changes his mind.
About the Author
Sarah Prineas lives in the midst of the corn in rural Iowa and can usually be found writing fantasy novels on a stealthy silver MacBook Air called Dash. Prineas's Magic Thief series introduced readers to the irascible wizard Nevery and his gutterboy apprentice, Connwaer. Sarah holds a PhD in English literature and recently taught honors seminars on fantasy and science fiction literature at the University of Iowa. She has an amazing dragon action-figure collection and occasionally bakes biscuits (although she says hers never seem to turn out as tasty as Benet's do in
The Magic Thief). She is also the author of
Winterling,
Summerkin, and
Moonkind.
Sarah is married to John Prineas, a physics professor, which comes in handy when she's writing about magic. They are the parents of Maud and Theo.
Kids Q&A
Read the Kids' Q&A with Sarah Prineas