Wild Magic

Author: Catherine Weatherill

Publisher: Walker & Company

Summary: The Pied Piper has led the children away from Hamelin Hill for reasons rooted in a long history of wild magic. Mari and her brother, Jakob, are among those lured by the Piper's enchanting music, and they are now trapped in an unfamiliar world--one as cruel as it is beautiful.

All the while, a fearsome beast stalks the forest in search of the special child he needs to break a centuries old curse. But finding the Chosen One could have deadly consequences, and Mari and Jakob will soon find themselves in a spellbinding adventure, full of dark magic and unexpected danger.

Review: It has got to be one of my favorite re-tellings. This story is well-written, fast-paced, vivid, clear and true.

I had practically forgotten about the Pied Piper story until I picked up this book. Everything in the story fits together to weave the events of the Piper's life and existence. I believe that this book is a good example of how to build up the detail of a plot. The idea of the Piper was already here, but the hard part was to give him a background which fit with his actions and then make an interesting story of what he did after.

The important thing was not to make it a biography of him and risk boring the audience. The characters added were actually relevant and important to the actual plot. Everyone served a purpose, well mostly. None of the characters were really that in-depth, but it didn't really matter since the imagery was pretty amazing. I feel like I would have acted a lot like most of the kids taken to "paradise". They felt awed by it and were happy to visit, but its not like they wanted to stay. They were normal kids who missed their parents and who missed their town as drab as it may be. I think that's what normal people think, but I've read books were the characters are uncommonly stupid and you just want to rip off their ears. Don't take me too seriously, but I have thrown a book at my wall because I hated this character or other! :D

I don't think this book really constitutes as YA and there is no romance. Yeah, I know. Even so, I think that most fans of YA will venture into the tween genre every now and then. If you ever do, then read this book because I think it will benefit you, and if not, then at least keep you entertained.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5