The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Raven Hill Mysteries #2

by Emily Rodda, Rebecca Macauley (Narrator)

When the Teen Power gang is hired to clean up the local magic shop, Tom is the only one who is pleased. The others think the shop is creepy, and that its owner, magician Sid Foy, is weird.

But Tom is looking forward to exploring the magic shop's secrets. He needs something to take his mind off his troubles. Especially his fear of the Gripper – a vicious mugger prowling the streets of Raven Hill at night.

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Contemporary, Young Adult

Audio CD

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Emily Rodda (real name Jennifer Rowe) was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney in 1973 with an MA (Hons) in English Literature. Moving into a publishing career, first as a book editor, and finally as a publisher at Angus & Robertson, Rodda's first book was published in 1984.

Reviews

[Sass]

I used to love this series as a kid, I was surprised by how much of it stuck in my head for the past 20 years

[Mella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I've been looking for years, I've never managed to track down all 30 of the Teen Power Inc series. I really hope at some point these are released in ebook format. Or reprinted as paperbacks. I'm not really fussed but I would definitely like to read all of them in some format. Still over the years I've read a great many of them and have recently been rereading the ones I have. (And scouring auctions and used bookstores for missing copies.)

Anyway Teen Power Inc is brilliant. They're lighthearted mysteries featuring a cast of six teenagers who start their own odd job business to earn money. Each book is narrated by a different character. There's Liz who is the mother hen. She is passionate about equality and fairness and helping others. Her best friend is Sunny who is super sporty. She spends a lot of her time exercising and attending taekwondo and gymnastic classes. Tom is the class clown of the group, always ready with a joke and his sketchpad. Elmo is the reporter. He joins the group in the first novel, when the gang accept a job as the new delivery people for the Pen (the local newspaper) that Elmo's father owns. Nick is described as being "cool". He's always ready with the right words and the charm. And last of all is Richelle who is the fashionista and kind of an airhead. Each book focuses on the adventures and mysteries the group fall into when they start a new job.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is narrated by Tom. Tom is the jokester of the group but his point of view shows us that he's also got a sensitive side. His parents are divorced and he lives with his mother, stepdad and two half brothers. His stepdad and Tom clash a lot - Brian (the stepdad) is a bit uptight and tries to force Tom to be more rule abiding. But Tom is a bit of a free spirit - he sketches and jokes and can't be confined by the box.

This time the gang have two jobs they need to divvy up. One is paying double money for two people to look after a young boy whose parents think is an angel but is really a devil in disguise. The other is helping a local magician, Sid, clean out his old wares. Tom has heard many stories about the kid who is in his brother's year level and refuses to babysit. Plus he loves the magic shop and spent lots of time in there growing up. He happily takes the job cleaning and even starts to revitalise the failing business. The other's are happy with double pay although they soon come to regret it.

In the meantime, Raven Hill is being threatened by the Gripper - a vicious mugger. The streets of Raven Hill are becoming dangerous to walk at night and Tom finds himself caught up in the mystery when his mother is attacked and catches a glimpse of the attacker. Tom sketches what his mother saw and is soon putting the clues together - accidentally stumbling on the guilty party.

The mystery is really good and there were a lot of twists I didn't see coming. For a middle grade novel they're surprisingly deep. Well it's a cross between middle grade and young adult whatever you call that. I love all the characters and enjoyed them piecing together the clues. 4 stars from me. 4.5 for the target audience. I can't wait to read the next one.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was also a really good book because it left me wondering until the end... just like the first book. I would also recommend this book

[Lemony Bean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tolerable follow-up to the first Raven Hill Mysteries book. The characters are a bit more wooden in this one (leaving aside the ventriloquist dummy….), and the story isn’t presented nearly as well.

It’s still a perfectly fine children’s (YA?) novel, and I recommend it still :)

Bumped to 4 stars due to the quality of the audiobook and the Australian narrator.

[Bec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of Surprises!

[Kylie Abecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. Thrilling, mysterious and fun. A great detective story

[Woff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this would just be a bit of nostalgia, but I have to say - it was pretty good!

[a*s*h · Rating 5 out of 5]

hmm tom moysten being the best character in the series?? its more likely than you'd think

[Georgie · Rating 5 out of 5]

another fun, exciting Aussie adventure. Each of the 'Teen Power' books are told from the point of view of a different member of the gang. 'Sorcerer's Apprentice' is told by Tom Moysten. Tom loves magic tricks and practical jokes, so when Teen Power land a job helping local magic shop owner and former stage magician Sid, clean out his store room, Tom is delighted. While he works at the magic shop and helps Sid improve it, the other members of the gang take on a job babysitting for a really spoilt kid, who gives them plenty of trouble. The 'mystery' part of the story comes in the form of The Raven Hill Strangler, a mysterious mugger who attacks people, creeping up behind them, wrapping an arm around their necks, putting what seems to be a gun in their back, robbing them, then forcing them to close their eyes and count to fifty while he escapes. He seems to come from and vanish into nowhere, and the local police haven't caught him. Tom and the Teen Power gang become involved in tracking down the Strangler.

[Monica M · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
At first i thought this is about a group of kids with superpower (hence the 'Power' and 'Sorcerer' word on the cover lol).
It's an easy and fun read, telling from Tom's POV. The Gripper kind of creepy, let alone on a preteen book. But it's fun.
One thing though, what the arrogant jerk Nick and stuck up princess like Richelle doing in Teen Power Inc? The rest of the member sounds humble and nice, while these two looks like belong to the opposite side, e.g popular/shallow group.
On last pages, there's excerpt from other books in this series with different member's POV. It will interesting (or suck) reading the one with Nick/Richelle's.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good children's mystery. The town of Raven Hill is being terrorized by a man they call The Gripper. He chokes people, sticks what feels like a gun in their back, and steals their purses and backpacks. Nobody has seen him and the police have no clues as to who he is. This book is told from Tom's perspective. I thought I knew who The Gripper was from the middle of the book and was pretty disgusted that it was so obvious--and I was certainly fooled.

RL: 4

[Maryann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one of those Nancy Drews, Hardy Boys, Famous Seven sort of novel. There's a violent robber terrorizing their neighbourhood and of course our young heroes and heroines get involved. A lovely read. The suspense had me going till the end.

[Kerryn (RatherBeReading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This installment was just as enjoyable as the first in the series.

I really enjoy Tom as a narrator.

Can't wait to continue on in the series.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved these books when I was young, and it's so much fun to read them with my kids all these years later. Still great mysteries, and a great example of friendship despite personality differences.