Amazon.com Review
As assistant to the king's chambermaid, 12-year-old Morwenna is hardly a likely candidate for wizardly inheritance. Yet there's something to be said for being in the right place at the right time--or is that the wrong place at the wrong time? Either way, with no warning, Morwenna suddenly becomes the recipient of five wishes when a 1,000-year-old ailing wizard, desperate to pass on his magical legacy, finds Morwenna at hand the moment before his dusty demise. Unfortunately, no guidance or advice accompanies this mysterious gift. Morwenna soon flounders in confusion and danger, as her best friend Swen, through a series of mishaps, comes to believe
he is the new wizard, and all the kingdom awaits liberation from a despotic ruler. This tense, moving tale raises painful questions about altruism and selfishness, as a mere child is asked to grant wishes, secretly and judiciously.
Avi himself must have inherited mystical powers. With nothing in his hands (other than a pen) and nothing up his sleeve, Avi writes spellbindingly in just about any genre. The proof is in his more than three dozen popular books for young people, including Midnight Magic and the Newbery Honor-winning historical novel The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8 A sensitively written tale which poses philosophical questions about selfishness, selflessness and the terrible burdens of what first appear to be wonderful gifts. Young Morwenna, upon the death of an ancient wizard, finds herself in possession of the world's last five wishes. She soon discovers that this gift is a lonely burden. By a curious trick of fate, a beloved but rather simple and selfish friend believes himself to be in possession of the wishes and constantly gets himself into situations from which Morwenna must extricate him. Freed from his foolishness through his death, Morwenna must live with the knowledge that she could have saved him had she been willing to use her final wish, thus giving up her own life in return. In a straightforward manner, Avi presents a fascinating balance between the simplistic and the complex. The inner conflict constantly taking place within the more mature (though chronologically younger) Morwenna is well contrasted with that of the unsophisticated Swen. A compact and well-told story that should inspire much debate about Morwenna's predicament and what readers would do in her circumstances. Karen P. Smith, Yonkers Board of Education, N.Y.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
