Saturday, November 30, 2013

Student Saturday: The Secret Country - Jane Johnson

Hailey M.

The book The Secret Country, takes place during the summer in the small town of Bixbury, England where a twelve year-old-boy named Ben Arnold lives with his mom, dad, his older sister, Ellie, and his younger sister, Alice. Ben is walking to the local pet shop, Mr. Dodd's Pet Emporium, to purchase two Mongolian Fighting fish, which he has spent more than two months saving up for. When Ben is in the pet shop a talking cat named Iggy pleads for his help. Ben purchases the cat and brings him home. Iggy tells him  of a magical land called Eidolon and the wild roads to take in order to get there. A few days later, Ben and Iggy go on one of the wild roads and end up in Eidolon. However, Eidolon has changed drastically since Iggy left it a few months ago after being kidnapped by Mr. Dodds, who had been kidnapping creatures from Eidolon to sell them at his pet shop. It is no longer the magical paradise that it once was. Ben discovers that his mother is Eidolon's queen, and now that she has left to raise her own family,  the magic is slowly draining out of it. Ben, Iggy, and the creatures of Eidolon must defeat Eidolon's new evil ruler, the Dodman, and restore Eidolon's magic.

What an exciting turn of events for Ben. he went from going to buy some pet fish to finding out that he was the prince of an entire world, and that the world needs to be saved. I think it would be very cool to be the prince of an entire world, especially a magical one. I wish a world like Eidolon really did exist. If it did, humans would get to see what dinosaurs looked like, and ride on dragons!

I connected with the main character, Ben, because I too have two siblings. I also live in a small town like Ben, who lives in the small town of Bixbury. I love animals and have many pets. Ben is twelve years old, and I will turn twelve in December, which isn't that far away. I feel that we have a lot in common.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes exciting books about magic. I think it is appropriate for readers ages nine and up. It had some challenging vocabulary. I think this book is amazing.

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