Witch Week (Chrestomanci Books) [Library Binding]

Diana Wynne Jones (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Chrestomanci Books

There are good witches and bad witches, but the law says that all witches must be burned at the stake. So when an anonymous note warns, "Someone in this class is a witch," the students in 6B are nervous -- especially the boy who's just discovered that he can cast spells and the girl who was named after the most famous witch of all.Witch Week features the debonair enchanter Chrestomanci, who also appears in Charmed Life, The Magicians of Caprona, and The Lives of Christopber Chant.Someone in the class is a witch. At least so the anonymous note says. Everyone is only too eager to prove it is someone else -- because in this society, witches are burned at the stake.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Someone in 6B is a witch. And, in the alternate reality described in Diana Wynne Jones's Witch Week, that's not at all a good thing to be. Jones plunks her readers directly into the life of Larwood House, a school in a present-day England that's a lot like the world we know, except for one major difference: witches are everywhere, and they are ruthlessly hunted by inquisitors. With witty, erudite writing, Jones tells of the adventures of the class of 6B as they set about to discover who among them is a witch. Clearly it's not the popular Simon or the perfect Theresa. Could it be fat Nan or sluggish Charles? Mysterious Nirupam or shifty-eyed Brian? By the climax of the book (which, by the way, involves saving the world), being a witch has become a badge of honor rather than a mark of shame.

Jones skillfully and seamlessly switches from one point of view to another, creating a comic companion piece to Lord of the Flies as she shows with perfect understanding the way children torment each other--and save each other. She neatly interweaves the dramatic plot with knowing descriptions of school life, as when lumpen Nan warily observes the popular girls: "At lessons, she discovered that Theresa and her friends had started a new craze. That was a bad sign. They were always more than usually pleased with themselves at the start of a craze... The craze was white knitting, white and clean and fluffy, which you kept wrapped in a towel so that it would stay clean. The classroom filled with mutters of, 'Two purl, one plain, twist two....'" Witch Week is a hugely entertaining book that doesn't condescendingly beat children over the head with its humane message of acceptance. --Claire Dederer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In this adroitly told story, Mr. Crossley finds a note claiming that "someone in this class is a witch," only the beginning of events that have 6B and the rest of the school in turmoil. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Library Binding
• Publisher: Topeka Bindery (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613061993
• ISBN-13: 978-0613061995
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,180,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diana Wynne Jones spent her childhood in Essex and has been writing fantasy novels for children since 1973. With her unique combination of magic, humour and imagination, she has been enthralling children and adults with her work ever since. She won the Guardian Award in 1977 with Charmed Life, was runner-up for the Children's Book Award in 1981, and was twice runner-up for the Carnegie Medal. She is married with three sons, and lives in Bristol with her husband.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Before the advent of The Harry Potter there was..., April 7, 2000

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Witch Week (Chrestomanci Quartet) (Mass Market Paperback)

Diana Wynne Jones. Now, I don't want to say anything bad about dear old Harry, in fear of being deluged with hate mail. So, a disclaimer: I *liked* Harry Potter. Well, moderately. I don't think Harry Potter is a god or anything. After reading The Sorcerer's Stone, I thought "There has got to be more than this", and so I went out to find Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series.

Now I've read two of them: Charmed Life, and Witch Week. Both books surpass Harry in depth of character (etc.) and in quality of writing, but Witch Week is the better of the two. The plot is intriguing: in a world exactly like ours, except that they still burn people as witches, someone in a sixth-grade class is accused of being a witch. It sounds pretty serious for a children's book, but Diana Wynne Jones treats her subject with sensitivity and humor. (Some parts are actually hilariously funny.) By the end, all the questions you had are answered, and everything is resolved in an unexpected but satisfactory way that only Diana Wynne Jones could pull off. Overall, an excellent book.

If you think Harry Potter is the center of the universe--excuse me (don't insult anyone), let's start over, If you liked the Harry Potter books, you must try Diana Wynne Jones. If you're really devoted to Harry Potter, you'll probably never allow another book to take its place. But keep an open mind, and try to see that there are more great books out there.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simon says-READ THIS BOOK!, August 20, 2001

By 

Maarz (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Witch Week (Chrestomanci Quartet) (Mass Market Paperback)

Every page of this enchanting third book of the Chrestomanci Quartet is captivating, and wonderfully humorous! Charles and Nan are two dull kids on a strage world where witches still around, and ilegal! If you're a witch, you are going to be burned at the stake! This is a comical book about the ways choices effect peoples lives, and how we can sometimes (if we're lucky) go back and fix them. The wackyness of riding a mop and a garden hoe to escape the privet school for troubled childern, and the whole dress up of the cross examining room (black material draped along the walls, a chair with a wired cap to go on someone's head, sharp objects, and containers that say do not open! Danger!) that Chrestomanci uses when he pretends to be a government official looking for a witch are charming. I reccomend this book to any HARRY POTTER fan, because Diana Wynne Jones has got a magical touch in her fingers.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for kids of all ages., April 6, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Witch Week (Chrestomanci Books) (Hardcover)

One day Mr. Crossley, a teacher at Larwood House (an English boarding school for witch orphans) finds a note on his desk: SOMEONE IN THIS CLASS IS A WITCH. In a world where witches are still burned over bone-fires this is one of the most serious accusations a person can make. Is it just a joke? Or is there really a witch in the class? If so, who? And can they find out before the Inquisitor arrives? As the story progresses, we discover that there is more to it than first meets the eye. New subplots continuosly pop up. The question becomes not so much who is the witch, as who isn't? This story is more than just a story about magic, or parallel worlds. It's a story about real people in a world as real as our own; a world inhabited by people, who can be stubborn, nasty, selfcentered, shy, stupid, and smart. The characters are all people who have reasons for being the way they are. The villians are rarely evil, but instead just plain stupid and narrow-minded. This is a book written for kids of all ages. It can be easily read and understood, no matter who you are or where you are from