Magic Lessons (Magic Or Madness) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Once, when i was really little, we passed a road sign peppered with bullet holes..." (more)
Key Phrases: golem thing, magic lessons, burnt rubber, Jason Blake, New York City, Jay Tee (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up–This sequel to Magic or Madness (Penguin, 2005) opens with 15-year-old Reason Cansino reminiscing about her early life with her mother, bringing new readers and fans of the first book up to speed. A magical golem-type creature comes in through the door that links her grandmother's house in Australia and New York City and attacks the magically talented teen and her similarly gifted friends, Tom and Jay-Tee. When Reason is pulled through the door and lands in Manhattan, she turns to Jay-Tee's brother, Danny, for shelter. After determining that the attacks come from Old Man Cansino, one of her ancestors, she has to figure out what he's trying to teach her, and how he's been able to survive for hundreds of years, since most magic users either die very young from using their power or go insane if they do not. Reason has sex with Danny and, at the end of this installment, she is pregnant and is charged with saving the others from their seemingly no-win situations. Larbalestier creates complex relationships among her characters, and their realistic flaws, combined with the sense of danger throughout, make this a good choice for even reluctant readers. Details about how Reason and her friends perceive and use magic add to the realism and immediacy of the story. Australian terms are defined in a somewhat humorous glossary but are generally understandable from context clues.–Beth L. Meister, Pleasant View Elementary School, Franklin, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-11. "If I don't use my magic, I'll go mad. . . . If I do use it, I'll most likely die before I turn twenty." In book 2 in Larbalestier's Magic or Madness trilogy, the witch matriarch Esmeralda gathers Jay-Tee, Tom, and granddaughter Reason in her Sydney home to help them negotiate the cruel costs of magic wielding. The teens' paths diverge when Reason is abruptly yanked through her grandmother's magic door back to New York City--where the 15-year-old faces a zombie who smells like "burnt rubber crossed with spew" and initiates a romance with Jay-Tee's older brother (to whom she abruptly, though not unwillingly, loses her virginity). The pacing and complex narrative structure seem less sure here than in Larbalestier's 2004 debut, and, consequently, some readers may weary of idiosyncrasies such as the abundant Aussie slang (notwithstanding the provided glossary). But the urgency surrounding the "magic-or-madness" double bind remains strong, and committed fans will take the good with the bad in anticipation of a more tightly woven finale. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Razorbill (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595141243
• ISBN-13: 978-1595141248
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #44,411 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, December 31, 2006

By	TeensReadToo.com "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magic Lessons (Magic Or Madness) (Hardcover)

MAGIC LESSONS is the second book in Justine Larbalestier's trilogy, and it's just as wonderful and gripping as Magic or Madness (Magic or Madness Trilogy)! In this book, there are just as many questions as in the first, as every answer Reason finds only leads to more questions. For everything that's resolved, there are five more things that I was anxious to find out as I read on! There
is plenty of suspense in this book.

Reason, Tom, and Jay-Tee have all stepped through Esmeralda's magic door into Sydney, leaving behind Reason's evil grandfather, Jason Blake, as well as Jay-Tee's older brother, Danny, in New York. They're being taught magic by Esmeralda, even Reason and Jay-Tee, though they're still not sure they trust her the way Tom does. They've had some bad experiences with magic, but they know now that they have to use it, or else they'll go crazy, like their parents. However, every time they use magic, they lose a little time being alive. Magic is not the blessing it is in other books; in the world Justine Larbalestier has created, it's more of a curse.

The door between Sydney and New York is acting strangely. At first, they think it's because of Jason Blake, but it turns out to be something much more frightening and mysterious. They're not sure what it is, but Reason knows something about whatever it is that the rest of them don't: It's a Cansino. She and Esmeralda are related to it. One more thing: it's old. As in, centuries old. Reason isn't sure what to make of this information, but she doesn't trust Esmeralda, so she's not telling anyone.

Then she loses her chance to share it. She is sucked through the door into New York. Reason's not as lost as she was the first time; after escaping the scary, stinking old man-like creature standing in front of the door, she finds Jay-Tee's brother Danny, and stays with him. She can't go back to Sydney; the old man, the Cansino, is guarding the door. She could always buy a plane ticket home (or, rather, Danny could buy her one; money is nothing to him, and she has none), but there are a few things keeping her in New York. One, she wants to find out more about the man guarding the door, and maybe do something to get rid of him if Esmeralda figures out what he is. Two, there's Danny...

Sequels often don't live up to the high expectations set by the previous books, but MAGIC LESSONS sure does! It's just as great as Magic or Madness (Magic or Madness Trilogy). One thing that I like about these books is Justine Larbalestier's magic system; it's very original, and it seems more realistic that, if magic existed, it would have a price. That makes this much darker than a lot of books about kids who find out they have magical powers, and also adds some extra awesomeness to an already great book.

The number of questions being far more than the number of answers also adds something to this novel. Even though I usually think that a book is made less wonderful by a cliff-hanger ending, I don't think that's the case in these books. First of all, the main conflict of the book is resolved, but, as all answers do in Justine Larbalestier's books, those resolutions bring new questions to be answered in the following story. Nothing here has been what it has seemed to be so far, but everything also makes perfect sense. Add this to great writing, wonderful characters, and brilliant ideas, and you've got an amazing trilogy! I absolutely cannot wait for book number three (Magic's Child (Magic Or Madness)).

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magic Lessons , September 24, 2006

By	bookworm - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magic Lessons (Magic Or Madness) (Hardcover)

this book Rocks! the vivid descriptions paint a clear image in your mind. if your interested in this you must; A: like books that arnt compleetly true but could posibly be beleived, B: have read the fist one or you will be compleetly lost, and C: be pacient with australian gramar (wich you would be any way if you folowed my instructions and read book 1 first). I'm imacintly waiting for the third and final book in the series.I want to know what happens very badly ,but don't want it to be over.
sincerly,
A magic or maddness adict

4.0 out of 5 stars Magic Lessons, October 4, 2009

By	Runa Zaman "HPLunatic" (Charlottesville, VA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Magic Lessons (Magic Or Madness) (Hardcover)

Magic Lessons starts off strong, asking lots and lots of exciting new questions, building suspense, as any good book does. This, however, gets overdone. By the time the reader is in the denser middle section, there are too many questions and not enough answers and a lot of frustration. I'm still extremely ticked off that Sarafina doesn't show up at all in the book, as she is my favorite character and the one I would love to learn more about, so it's frustrating, and I'm really hoping the third book sheds more light on this intensely interesting woman. Magic Lessons does a great job of combining realism with a greater dosage of fantasy than seen in Magic or Madness, and it does so with perfect balance. Reason's dilemma at the end of the book was painfully obvious, though, and I was disappointed--it was the one part of the book that definitely lacked the suspense the rest of the book upheld. There are still questions left unanswered, but since it's a trilogy, I expect they will be answered shortly! The one thing that left me most gleeful was the SPAGBOL reference--hooray for married authors!

Rating: 4/5