5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, November 3, 2008
This review is from: Amber Ambrosia (Great Plains Juvenile Fiction) (Paperback)
AMBER AMBROSIA is the second book in the MIDDLEGATE fantasy series by Rae Bridgman I had to read the first, THE SERPENT'S SPELL, in order to enjoy the second, and I did enjoy both.
Wil is an orphan. His parents died in a car crash when he was young and he has since been living with his grandmother. A few months earlier, though, his grandmother died in a fire, but before she did she had given him a medallion that had a snake on it.
He is then transported to Manitoba, to a secret city within, called Middlegate. Here he meets his relatives that he didn't know he had, two aunts and a cousin, whose birthday is the same as his. His cousin, Sophie, has had tragedy in her life also. When she was small, her father and her mother disappeared. It is believed that her father murdered a man.
So both kids are now living with their aunts, Rue and Violet. Aunt Rue works for the government and Aunt Violet is loving but strange. Oh, and did I mention that Middlegate is a enclave for wizards? Yes, both Sophie and Wil are wizards. They go to the Gruffud's Academy, which is a lot like Hogwarts but a day school instead of a boarding school.
In the first book, the two cousins save the snakes of Narcisse from extinction and put an evil villain in jail. At the opening of the second book, it is summer vacation and the two are bored with the thought of many hot, dreary days ahead of them.
Then a mystery appears. It seems that the magical bees are dying. The kids get a job helping out one of the teachers from the school with his beehives and get transported into the land of bees. They find out that the dangerous criminal they put away in the first book has escaped and could be behind the mystery.
I enjoyed the odd parts of the book, such as the eyeglasses that Sophie wears that change color with her moods. Wil and Sophie's relationship is much tighter and a great friendship is growing. The two also meet another set of twins and I believe that a foursome will develop to help with the mysteries.
I would like some more explanation of what the Serpent's Chain is and also why Rufus Crookshank is so bad. But all in all, a good read.
Reviewed by: Marta Morrison
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