Customer Reviews

A Gift of Magic

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Flashback

To the oldest girl I give the gift of dance. To the boy I give the gift of music,
and to the girl, the one that looks like me, I give the gift of...

Nancy is furious. Her parents just got divorced and she and the rest of her family had to move to Florida, her mother's hometown. She is miserable. Her mother is spending all of her time with Tom Duncan, a boyfriend she used to have, and her only friend, her sister, spends all of her time at the dance studio. Nancy has nothing to do with her time and is a complete loaner, until she predicts the answers on the social studies quiz before they were even asked. That's when she finds out she, too, has a special gift. Now, all she needs to find out, is if she will use her powers for good or evil.

Mystery, suspense, and action are blended together to make this magical book, a heart-stopping adventure. I think this is not one of my favorite books that I have read by her, but Lois Duncan really describes everything in great detail so I had a large picture of the book when I was done reading. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in ESP, or just likes a good, fast, read.

This book is great because it makes you want to have ESP (extrasensory perception) too. It is a special gift the main character, Nancy has, which lets her see in to the future and past. The story is short and gets right to the point. Perfect for girls ages 9-15.

Nancy has ESP, which she got from her grandmother. Her mom and dad get divorced and her brother, Brendon and sister, Kirby move to their grandma's old house in Florida. Nancy hates leaving her father. She hates Kirby dancing all the time and not being a normal teenager. She hates that her mom is talking to other men. She knows everything that is going on and knows who is at the door or on the telephone before there is a knock or a ring. She gets in trouble from her teacher because she was thought to be cheating when it was her ESP.

What will she do next? Will she get over everything she hates or will something go terribly wrong. How will you find out these answers? Just read "A Gift of Magic."

I loved this book, it was exciting, and I never wanted to put it down. It's the best story I've read in years (other than the other Lois Duncan books.) The characters seem so real; I can picture everything that is going on.
In a Gift of Magic, Nancy has a special gift. She has ESP. She can go into other people's minds, and she knows who is on the phone, before it even rings! But now she can move things with her mind, and she's using it to get things her way. She doesn't want her sister Kirby, to go to Atlanta to become a professional dancer, so she sets her mind, and then she gets her way!
I think anybody who is 8-14 will like this book. It has some tough words in it, but it may be a little too childish for some adults.

This book is about Nancy, Kurby and Brendon. Their grandmother left each of them a gift. Nancy has the gift of magic (ESP), Kurby has the gift of dance, and Brendon has the gift of music. It takes place in a little town in Florida. Their house is on the beach. Nancy decides to use her gift for evil, and she does. She gives her teacher Dropsy (a fake disease). She also makes Kurby fall down the stairs - or so she thinks. Does Nancy really have ESP? Or is it a figure of her imagination?

I thought that this book was great! Lois has an interesting way of writing. She could have put a little more magic towards the beginning. All in all I thought that this book The Gift of Magic was great.

The setting was in a small town in Florida. During this book, the main character, Nancy, will have to deal with her special gift.
In the book, Nancy can tell when things are going to happen before they happen. She wants to control if her sister leaves for ballet school, her parents, Miss Green, and more. Nancy didn't want her mother and Mr. Duncan to get close because she wanted her parents to get back together. This hurt both Mr. Duncan and Elizabeth, Nancy's mom.
As the book progresses, Nancy learns that she can use her gift, ESP, for good things and that trying to control people's lives will just end up with the other people hurting.
This book was very exciting. Before this book I didn't know what ESP was or even what it stood for, but now I do. The book started out with many conflicts. Conflicts make books more interesting. As the book progressed, the conflicts became more detailed. In the end, of the book all the conflicts were resolved. As said by Rachel Faletto, it was neat to learn about ESP. In my opinion, this book was really good because it kept my interest and I didn't know what was going to happen next. In some books you know what is going to happen next, but in this one it took you for turns. Keyarrah Bell said that the book was kinda boring and that it didn't have a lot of action. I also like books with action, but this book did have action. In the book Brendon and Greg get into a predicament where they might die. Also Kirby gets into an accident that might change her life. These things kept me interested in the book. Anna Burton said that Lois Duncan has the ability to capture her readers no matter what age they are. I think this is true I have read some of her other books and she captures you and makes you want to never put the book down. In her book, "I Know What You Did Last Summer" it always kept you interested. "A Gift of Magic" was just another of her books that captures the reader. When Greg and Brendon get into a fight, you don't know how they will be able to stay in each others class. Read the book to find out what happens to Brendon and Greg. Also how Nancy controls her ESP or will she even use it?

I liked this book because I thought it was so cool how she could do all the things that she could. That would bo so cool if i could read someones mind! All i know is that if i was to be around her i would be scared of what i was thinking because i wouldnt want her to know EVERYTHING. Just about anybody would enjoy this book.

This book by Lois Duncan disappointed me. After reading some of her other brilliant books, such as Stranger With My Face, it was a letdown. The story is about a girl called Nancy with special psychic powers, given to her by her dying grandmother when she was a child, and what happens to her and her sister and brother. The story seemed too young and simple for me, and with her other books, I thought could be enjoyed by almost any age. I also have read them over and over again. This is an okay book, but compared to her others, it falls flat. Read it, forget about it.

As I read this, I had to keep checking the cover to make sure it wasn't a "Shoes" book by Noel Streatfield. It had the identical cast: one supremely gifted child who does nothing but pursue her dream (in this case, dance); one "difficult" middle child with a less-understood gift, and a more conventional child who is indifferent about his gift. Throw in a pretty, gentle but weak-willed mother and absent father and plunk them down in an unfamiliar place, and presto! They even talk more like Europeans than Americans (more formal) which is explained by the fact that they've mostly lived in Europe.

The adjustment the children make to their new home and school is complicated by their gifts and by the appearance of their mother's old childhood friend who now wants to be something more. Overall, I found this book less suspenseful and more predictable than the others by Duncan I have read. I was also perplexed by her decision to give one character her first name and the other her last name. It's supposed to be strictly a work of fiction, but that kind of thing always makes me wonder...

A Gift of Magic is in no way Duncan's best work. This one is different from her others in the fact that I found it more suited to children. "Gift" is a magical fairy tale that only briefly touches on the trademark Mysterious Phenomena of Duncan's style. It has a simple storyline, simple characters, and a simple structuring. Good for storytelling to younger kids, but not for the usual audience.

This book was my favorite book of Lois Dunchan so far. I can't wait to read her many others. Lois Dunchan surtanly has a gift like Nancy, only her's is the gift of making page tuning, best sellers. This book kept you interested and intreged. I think you really get into the character of Nancy. I love the cast of characters and settings. Way to go Lois!!!