Falcon and the Charles Street Witch [Hardcover]

Luli Gray (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Since Egg flew off into the night more than a year before, Falcon fears she will never see her dragon again. Her mother wants to forget that Egg ever existed and her father never believed in dragons at all. But the magic finds Falcon again. First she leaps out of a plane after her younger brother, Toody. Then, blown to safety on a current of dragonsbreath, Falcon lands in an enchanted garden on Charles Street in New York City where she is greeted by the wonderfully peculiar Blinda Cholmondely. With the help of an ancient doggerel-spouting dragon named Dirus Horribilus, the rakish Saint George, and the astonishing Charles Street Witch, Falcon sets out to rescue Toody. In this rollicking tale of adventure and surprise, not only will Falcon see her beloved Egg again, she will also discover her own extraordinarily courageous self.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On her way back to New York from Australia, Falcon goes after her brother Toody when he falls out of the airplane in Falcon and the Charles Street Witch by Luli Gray. Perhaps the dragonsbreath that carries her safely to the ground belongs to her long-lost dragon pal, Egg, first met in Falcon's Egg, which PW said, in a starred review, "artfully braid[s] together real life and fantasy..
- together real life and fantasy."
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grades 4-6--When 12-year-old Falcon and her little brother fall out of a jumbo jet, Falcon wafts down to the residence of Ms. Cholmondely (pronounced Chumley), a witch who helps her locate Toody. He has ended up in Australia with a young dragon named Egg, previously introduced in Falcon's Egg (Ticknor & Fields, 1995). The girl's efforts to fetch her sibling are complicated by Dirus, a sleepy old rhyming dragon; an accidental detour to an alternate New York City where animals talk; and the discovery of Egg by a horrified world. Except for the inexplicable airplane accident and an unconvincing confrontation with a bad guy at the end, this fantasy flows smoothly, with plenty of eccentric characters and interesting situations. Ms. Cholmondely's unique brand of slapdash magic and Egg's habit of speaking solely in mangled Shakespearean quotes will delight readers, but probably won't engage their emotions. A fun and fast read for fantasy fanatics.
Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (April 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618164103
• ISBN-13: 978-0618164103
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,037,786 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The magic is back, December 2, 2002

By 

A mom (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Falcon and the Charles Street Witch (Hardcover)

Falcon was a great character when she first appeared in 1995, in the magical "Falcon's Egg." At long last, she is back, with more magic than ever. This time Falcon is surrounded by a new collection of wacky, fascinating characters, most notably Blinda the Charles Street Witch and Dirus Horribilus the old dragon (with a digestive problem whose consequences make for one of the book's most hilarious scenes). This is a book a kid can get happily lost in, while soaking up Luli Gray's witty, sophisticated and lyrical storytelling.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Falcon is Back, Hurrah, Hurrah!, May 23, 2002

By 

Benjamin G. Garcia (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Falcon and the Charles Street Witch (Hardcover)

For those of us who have been waiting for the sequel to the enchanting, brave and serious Falcon's Egg, this book is water upon parched soil! Moving from the grounded and richly rendered Manhattan of the first book, the author takes us to a surreal (and parallel) universe of Australial aborigines, Scottish bagpipers, classics-misquoting dragons and, most strange of all: happy, friendly New Yorkers!
Falcon's Egg was a love letter to New York and a tribute to great children's book authors of the past, like E. Nesbitt. In Falcon and the Charles Street Witch, the author follows the lead of Lewis Carroll and whips up a story that is absurd, energetic, and often hilarious. I just hope these books keep coming, as Falcon is a character I want to know for a long time!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dragonsbreath rules!, July 1, 2002

By 

Scott W Fabianek (Bedford, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Falcon and the Charles Street Witch (Hardcover)

The first Falcon book, "Falcon's Egg", was a great insight into what a child of separated parents goes through. Falcon has to take care of her brother Toody as her mother is unable to deal with raising her kids and so she bears much responsibility on her young shoulders. Finding Egg, and the adventures that follow, give her a powerful secret and something she could choose to care for. What she learns is that loving something sometimes means letting it go, and that there are people in your life who will share some of the weight of world with you if you let them.

In this book, the sequel, Falcon watches as Toody is swept out of a plane and she follows him as she tries to save him. From that moment on, these two enter a world that is both real and fantasy. There is more magic in this book than in the first, and it is sillier. But it is a very enjoyable silliness that contrasts with the seriousness of "Falcon's Egg". I particularly liked Dirius, the old dragon with a little gas problem (hilarious) and Belinda Chomondley, the Charles Street Witch.