Customer Reviews

Millicent's Gift

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wow! This book may have a slow start, with a prologue and a wordy "cast of characters" before chapter one, but Millicent is a protagonist worth persevering for. And when I was done the book, I went back and read both sections with new eyes, and marvelled at how the narrator had grown.

Millicent MacCool is about to turn fourteen. She has been home-schooled and trained in magic by her aunts all her life. Now, she is about to attend a public high school at just about the same time she will be granted her Power, the ability to perform one Wish. Her family is large, and she compares each one of them to characters out of Celtic legend. Although she lives with her mother, Millicent's legal guardian is her brother Mac, eighteen years older, the town police chief, and a man haunted by his own past failures. The family dynamics are tangled and intense. An embittered older sister who squandered her Power wants to sell magic secrets; the mother hangs on to a sad secret, and Millicent's twin brother Dexter is angry because he has been denied the Power.

When Millicent is faced with a dilemma -- betraying her only friend -- or betraying her guardian brother Mac; she risks losing all her magic and her special Power to face what she fears most and be true to what she loves best.

Rinaldi's story is believable and moving. Love, family, and friendship are the themes. The MacCool family practices magic, but they are also Catholic, not witches. There is nothing here to offend, nothing dark, or disturbing. Millicent is an astounding character, as is Mac. This book is a departure from Rinaldi's usual historical fiction. It is one of her best.

I read Millicent's Gift. I thought it was a great book. I liked because it had some adventure and there was a lot of details so you could picture where they were. I think other kids ten or higher would love to read it too. I recommend this book it is a great book to read and other kids should read it too. It is the best book I ever read. Anyone who sees this should read it's think u would like it too. It's at the top my list for books. If you have interests in magic, cops, and courts, this would be a good book for you.

Thirteen-year-old Millicent MacCool knows that her fourteenth birthday will not be an ordinary day. Not like other fourteen-year-old's birthdays. No, not at all. You see, in Millicent's family, turning fourteen means receiving a magical Gift, and that magical Gift, is the ability to make one wish in life that will come true. Sure Millicent wants to grow-up, but she's not sure that she's ready for that kind of Power. As the day of her fourteen bithday draws closer and closer, Millicent is slowly realizing how dangerous having this one Gift can be, and how difficult the choices that she will face throughout her life will be, as well. Millicent is learning how to struggly with love, secrets, and betrayal, and in the end, Millicent will have to make the hardest decision that she will ever have to make. One that will change her life forever, as she knows it.

I was surprised to stumble across Ann Rinaldi's MILLICENT'S GIFT, while browsing through the bookstore the other day, as I am so accustomed to her writing historical fiction, and MILLICENT'S GIFT is nothing like that. Instead, it is a paranormal/magic book that is set in modern day times. However, I will applaud Ms. Rinaldi on her amazing work, as MILLICENT'S GIFT is a wonderful work of literature for both young and old. Millicent is an exciting character, whom is a wonderful friend, and a trustworthy daughter, niece, and sister. She is intelligent, determined, and spirited, and will be loved by readers the world over. A must have book.

Erika Sorocco

I've only read Rinaldi's historical fiction before now and in general revere her ability to throw history, philosophical wisdom, and teenagers into a book, shake it all up, and come out with literature.

This book is not historical fiction, it's fantasy. And when you get a little girl turned into a deer, instead of frolicking through the woods and eating some grass, she goes out and deals with family problems.

Sorry. Not realistic in the world of fantasy. If I were a deer, I'd frolic. What use is it to be a deer if you can't frolic? Millicent could have dealt with family problems just as well as a human girl. Rinaldi used the fantasy genre as landscape, as background, maybe a curio. Good fantasy fiction, as does good historical fiction, uses it's genre not as curio but as something very normal, as life. The object of the fantasy fiction writer is to transport the reader, not parade in front of the reader like a museum of startling artifacts.

Rinaldi didn't succeed at doing this. The book had decent plot but no substance and nothing to make me care about Millicent. I felt disconnected from her, as if I was watching a soap opera, not a well-written drama.

This book had a lot of adventure! It was WONDERFUL! I reccomend it to 9 or up!

Millicent's Gift is a powerful story. A young girl is faced with challenges, descisions, and truths that she has to learn to accept. The foundation is very solid, but the plot can be a bit hard to follow. Over all, worth the time, but for older readers.

It wasn't the type of book I would normally read, but I desided I would give it a try. It took me FOREVER to get through the first chapters!! It was sooo boring! I gave up reading it half way through the book because it was still so boring.It hadn't even gotten to the point of the story! You may say I'm not quilafied to write a review on a book that I haven't read all of but, personally, I think any book that doesen't have you intrested half way through the book, deserves a one. If you like slow-moving stories, this books for you!!!