Witch & Wizard [Large Print] [Paperback]

James Patterson (Author), Gabrielle Charbonnet (Author)

Book Description

Series: Witch & Wizard | Publication Date: December 14, 2009

The world is changing: the government has seized control of every aspect of society, and now, kids are disappearing. For 15-year-old Wisty and her older brother Whit, life turns upside down when they are torn from their parents one night and slammed into a secret prison for no reason they can comprehend. The New Order, as it is known, is clearly trying to suppress Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Being a Normal Teenager. But while trapped in this totalitarian nightmare, Wisty and Whit discover they have incredible powers they'd never dreamed of. Can this newly minted witch and wizard master their skills in time to save themselves, their parents--and maybe the world?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–9—Wisty and Whit Allgood have magical powers, but they don't know it. At least they don't know until they are arrested by the guards of the New Order, which has just come to power. Their parents have always been into herbs and plants and predictions; they don't send their kids to typical schools, and when the teens are allowed to take only one item each to jail with them, they send a drumstick and a book with no words that are visible to the naked eye. The kids start to get an inkling of what they can do when Wisty bursts into flames when she gets angry, and before long she is turning people into creatures and conjuring tornadoes, and lightning bolts shoot from her hands. The bulk of the book takes place when Whit and Wisty are locked up in a reformatory where they are bullied by the guards. The chapters are only one to three pages in length and alternate between the two main characters' points of view. The action doesn't really pick up until the last third of the book, when the siblings make their escape. Readers expecting something akin to Patterson's "Maximum Ride" series (Little, Brown) are bound to be disappointed, but the groundwork is set for subsequent volumes that might make wading through the first one worthwhile.—Jake Pettit, Thompson Valley High School, Loveland, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Although marketing muscle might make this book a hit, it’s hard to believe too many readers will be satisfied with the confusing blend of sorcery and political dystopia. Fifteen-year-old Wisty and her 18-year-old brother Whit are awoken one night by troops from the newly elected N.O. (New Order) regime. The siblings are chained, tossed into a prison, and accused of being a witch and wizard—a charge that seems preposterous until Wisty envelops her body in flames and is no worse for wear. With the help of Whit’s dead girlfriend (who exists in a limbo known as the Shadowland), the teens escape to a bombed-out department store where a teen resistance movement fights the dastardly N.O. Wisty and Whit are standard-issue teen smart alecks, the baddies are stock villains who use phrases like “dangerous fiends,” and the meandering plot seems to make up the rules as it goes along. It’s got an enticing prologue, though, and Patterson’s trademark bite-size chapters at least keep things zippy. Grades 6-9. --Daniel Kraus --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; Lrg edition (December 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316071056
• ISBN-13: 978-0316071055
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (327 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #760,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Large Print > Science Fiction & Fantasy

More About the Author

From my publisher:

James Patterson...


* James Patterson holds the New York Times bestsellers list record with 63 New York Times bestselling titles.

* JP has sold more than 220 million books worldwide. And considering pass-along and libraries, it's safe to say many more people than that have read a Patterson!

* In 2010, JP was named by kids everywhere the Children's Book Councils' Children's Choice Book Awards "Author of the Year" in 2010. More than 15,000 kid and teen readers voted for JP in a category he shared with Suzanne Collins, Carl Hiaasen, Jeff Kinney, and Rick Riordan. His Witch and Wizard series saw the biggest launch of a series for young readers ever, surpassing sales of first installments of Twilight, Diary of A Wimpy Kid, and Percy Jackson & The Olympians.

* JP has grossed over 3 billion dollars in worldwide sales. This is larger than the worldwide theatrical gross of Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time.

* JP has had 43 New York Times hardcover #1 bestselling novels, also a publishing industry record.

* Last year, JP has sold more books than John Grisham, Dan Brown, Tom Clancy, and Stephen King combined (source: Nielsen BookScan).

* JP properties are gaining wide interest amongst film and TV producers. JP's award-winning series for young readers, Maximum Ride, is currently with Avi Arad (Spiderman, Iron Man) and Universal Pictures. Lloyd Levin (Green Zone, Watchmen) is attached to produce a feature film adaptation of JP's newest young readers series, Witch and Wizard, and James Patterson Entertainment is set to produce the next Alex Cross film, I, Alex Cross which will feature Idris Elba (The Wire, The Losers) as Alex Cross. And, a television adaptation of JP's 2007 love story Sundays At Tiffanys aired in December 2010 starring Alyssa Milano and Eric Winter.

* JP's books are licensed in 43 countries worldwide, and are in print and actively sold in 100 countries.

* According to a 2010 Bowker Sisters in Crime Survey, JP is the favorite mystery writer amongst readers under 50...AND over 50! Survey respondents comprised American men, women and teens who bought at least one mystery fiction title in 2009 and/or 2010.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

118 of 130 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining...If Nothing Else, December 14, 2009

By 

Iris Green "Editor, www.ChickLitReview.org" (DC metro area) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Witch & Wizard (Kindle Edition)

I absolutely love dystopian, end-of-life-as-we-know-it, type of novels. George Orwell's 1984 (Signet Classics) and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale happen to be two of my favorites. This novel started with great promise...And then it fell short. Very short. The novel is about Wisty and Whit Allgood, two teenage siblings who are kidnapped by the New Order, a form of government that has taken over the world. During this time, Wisty and Whit discover that they have magical powers, and that is why the New Order considers them a threat. The story opens up with Wisty and Whit being led to the gallows in a sports arena, with thousands of people cheering on their hanging. As the proceedings commence, Wisty and Whit take us into the backdrop of the story, how they found themselves condemned to death.

In a trite and oversimplified manner, we learn that our political system crumbled overnight and was replaced by the New Order headed by "The One Who Is the One." As Wisty and Whit continue to battle some of their challenges, they become more aware of the magnitude of their supernatural powers. The story crosses over from Wisty and Whit's time in prison, over to other worldly dimensions (such as the Shadowland where spirits dwell) back to an unrecognizable world overwrought with despair, war, and hopelessness. But none of this is captured with any depth.

What I thought would be a great dystopian story seemed more like a cat-and-mouse fantasy under a dystopian backdrop. I do enjoy fantasies and stories of magic along with mayhem, but there was something missing in this story. It was entertaining in some areas but it lacked the thrilling suspense I would expect in a novel written by Patterson.

This is the first book in a new series and unfortunately, it leaves readers with a rather weak cliffhanger. This series may have some promise and hopefully, the next book will delivery on that.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dystopian fluff, October 12, 2010

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Witch & Wizard (Paperback)

"Dystopian fluff" -- it sounds kind of oxymoronic, doesn't it? It also perfectly describes James Patterson's young adult fantasy "Witch and Wizard," which basically transports the Harry Potter aesthetic to a totalitarian near-future. It's one of those stories that is overflowing with potential and/or promise, but in this case it's just a bone-thin plot clothed in 2-D characters and indifferent plot.

Wisty and her older brother Whit are dragged from their beds by New Order soldiers (and no, I don't mean the band), and accused of being a witch and a wizard. Unfortunately, their denials are sabotaged by Wisty suddenly bursting into flame. Soon the siblings find themselves being dragged into a living nightmare -- interrogation, absurd trials, a prison filled with similarly talented kids, and finally a sentence of execution.

But in a cruel New Order prison, Wisty and Whit's powers begin to expand exponentially (think more flames, drifting through solid walls, transformation, bug-summoning, etc). To escape, they'll have to take a trip into the world of the dead (which isn't too different from the world of the living) and join up with a secret resistance -- and discover the terrible plans of the New Order's leader, The One Who Is One.

"Witch and Wizard" is one of those books where it feels like the author just sat down over a long weekend and banged out a quickie manuscript. Patterson makes a few lame references to Harry Potter and Percy Jackson stories, but it's obvious that there was little enthusiasm in this story -- the entire Evil Dystopian FutureWorld sketched out here is no more than a series of blurry outlines and cliches, with no backstory and little development. Throw in some magical powers and a Big Magical Prophecy.

Patterson's lack of passion extends to the writing -- it's bland, pedestrian, and trickles along the outline of a rather boring plot. Whit and Wisty just sort of drift from one place to another, mostly with little description and not much humor. There's always a magical deus ex machina waiting around the next corner (apparently Wisty's MegaMagicalPowahz can literally do anything), and Patterson even weaves in a contrived cliffhanger that literally extends through the entire book.

What's more, his prose is tepid and humorless -- when the characters aren't talking like idiots ("It was like, boom--flamesicle!"), they're sounding like melodramatic TV actors ("you can't save them anyway...if you're dead!"). As for that "Tricks are for kids!" joke... not funny.

And the characters aren't much better. Wisty and Whit are utterly generic WASP teenagers who somehow never noticed that oh yeah, they're a witch and wizard. Everyone else is either good and pure (rebels against the New Order) or evil and sadistic trying to justify their nastiness (people working for the New Order), with the required Tattling Weasel and Evil Bald Tall Overlord.

"Witch and Wizard" is a bland, boring stretch of dystopian fantasy that makes you wish you could be entertained and excited, and feel vaguely disgusted that you're not.

61 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing . . ., December 16, 2009

By 

K. Stearns (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Witch & Wizard (Hardcover)

My daughter loves the Maximum Rides stories so I put this latest book by James Patterson at the top of her Wishlist. After reading it though, I'm feeling bad for the giftgiver -- it's just not good. The plot is skeletal and overly simplistic, and there is none of the sarcastic humor that peppered the Maximum Ride stories. It feels like it was written over a long week-end while the author was thinking of something else.