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Sunday, December 19, 2021

Support an Indie Author for Christmas!!

 

ON AUDIBLE!!





Freckles: The Dark Wizard is now available on Audible!  Voiced by the talented Byron Hagan, it is a great production. Best of all - First five people to message me can have a copy for free in exchange for an unbias, honest review. Send requests to jerryharwoodbooks at the google mail. Put "Freckles Audiobook" in the subject line!


HERE IS WHAT BOOKLIFE 

(A Subsuduary of Publisher's Weekly)

HAD TO SAY:

10 out of 10
"Jerry Harwood's third YA novel is a tour de force of magic, mayhem and self-discovery for protagonist Simon, who turns out to have a lot more going for him than anyone thought." 


Freckles: The Dark Wizard has been reviewed by The Book Life:

Review

Plot: Simon attends Flame Rock Middle School where absolutely everyone is going to grow up to be a wizard. The question is, what kind of wizard? Simon has freckles, a feature that bodes ill for his power as a wizard and puts him at the bottom of the social ladder in middle school. But as he comes into his full wizarding powers, Simon discovers that he can conjure a dragon - powerful dark magic indeed - and that his perception of himself trumps what anyone else thinks of him. Freckles: The Dark Wizard is a well-crafted allegory about growing up during what is perhaps one of the most difficult periods of many a kid's life.


Prose/Style: 
The prose is completely appropriate for a middle school reader, with just enough challenging vocabulary to make it interesting without slowing down the action.

"This fantasy has all the right elements for this age group—wizards, magic, pre-teen social challenges, and adventure."

Originality: 
Harwood is a middle school teacher and the father of six; his understanding of upper elementary school age kids, what will engage their attention, and their sense of humor is spot-on. This fantasy has all the right elements for this age group—wizards, magic, pre-teen social challenges, and adventure. A particularly refreshing element of this story is that it starts in a fantasy world, rather than taking the reader through a litany of events to get there.


Character Development/Execution: 
Simon is a completely believable middle schooler (aside from his wizarding powers, of course), portrayed with sympathy but without sentimentality. Simon discovers the power that will make him master of his own life, but the challenge is to learn to control it. The sensitive descriptions of Simon's efforts to negotiate the complexities of middle school social life, find his strengths, and figure out girls show Harwood's deep familiarity with and commitment to this age group.

Jerry Harwood's third YA novel is a tour de force of magic, mayhem and self-discovery for protagonist Simon, who turns out to have a lot more going for him than anyone thought.

The sensitive descriptions of Simon's efforts to negotiate the complexities of middle school social life, find his strengths, and figure out girls show Harwood's deep familiarity with and commitment to this age group.


Score:
  • Plot/Idea: 10
  • Originality: 10
  • Prose: 10
  • Character/Execution: 10
  • Overall: 10.00
REVIEWED BY  The Booklife Prize (a subsidiary of Publisher's Weekly)

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