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The Call to Shakabaz
Wachspress sidesteps many of the usual conventions and offers original resolutions to a variety of sticky situations. When the recently orphaned Goodacre children are transported to the land of Faracadar, they must discover and develop their special gifts and talents, which require that they exercise ingenuity, creativity, and compassion. Fourteen-year-old Doshmisi and her younger siblings, Denzel, Maia, and Sonjay, are given the task of retrieving the powerful Staff of Shakabaz from the evil enchanter Sissrath. They travel through a colorful landscape with their Faracadaran guide and their aunt Alice's clever, pesky, and often hilarious parrot, Bayard Rustin. The adventurers must contend with many obstacles and foes, including a giant sea serpent spewing green goo, skeeter birds with uncanny eyesight, the smelliest man in the land (named Compost), the deadly mountain geebachings (who cause their victims to laugh themselves to death), as well as Sissrath himself and his minions (who shoot deadly poison darts at their enemies). Assistance is provided to them along the way by the griot, the high chief, and his clever daughter, talking whales, ancient trees, drummers, inventors, butterflies, wolves, tigers, and the peculiar sprites who live underground in the hills.
The book offers a refreshingly different perspective on adventuring in make-believe lands and challenges young listeners to reconsider the nature of violence and how we resolve conflict. When the last second plays and the dust clears, this audiobook will inspire listeners to think and think again.
The book offers a refreshingly different perspective on adventuring in make-believe lands and challenges young listeners to reconsider the nature of violence and how we resolve conflict. When the last second plays and the dust clears, this audiobook will inspire listeners to think and think again.
Audible Audio
First published January 15, 2007
79 people want to read
About the author
Amy Wachspress
6 books7 followersAmy Wachspress has a M.A. in English Language and Literature and she is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist. She founded Woza Books in 2006 to self-publish The Call to Shakabaz and published the sequel, Changing the Prophecy, in 2023. In 2012, Counterpoint Press published her adult novel (historical fiction) Memories from Cherry Harvest. She and her husband Ron Reed raised their three children on forty acres of remote forest in Northern California. Now they live in the Pacific Northwest near their grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 13, 2012
In many ways, Amy Wachspress is building upon the traditions of fantasy literature in her debut novel, The Call to Shakabaz However, while those traditions may be standard in the genre, she finds a way to weave them in her own unique way to make the book appealing to an audience often neglected in fantasy literature. She also eschews the usual heroics as a way for her heroes to achieve their goals and forces them to push beyond violence to find the answers.
Four young people are living with their aunt after the death of their mother. Their father had disappeared years before. The four children, Doshmisi, Denzel, Maia, and Sonjay miss their city life on the secluded farm that their aunt owns. Then Midsummer arrives and their lives change as they are sent on a quest to the land of Faracadar to recover the Staff of Shakabaz from the evil enchanter Sissrath.
While their aunt and uncles know much about the land they are about to send their nieces and nephews into, they claim that nothing can be told them before they go. This, of course, is a literary device that allows the readers to learn along with the protagonists and saves too much wearisome exposition in the beginning. That said, one does sometimes wish that the four children would be given a little more explanation once they arrive in the land beyond the wardrobe. Pardon me, the cottage, not the wardrobe.
While there are plenty of parallels that can be drawn to C.S. Lewis' Narnia tales, The Call to Shakabaz is not Christian allegory. Rather it is closer to a parable of non-violence and the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. His name is even invoked in the book as Sonjay searches for answers to their quest.
As a fantasy adventure, this young adult novel—written at a 6th grade reading level with an interest level tagged at 4th through 9th—is filled with many wonderful elements. All of the characters experience meaningful growth throughout the course of the novel and must discover secrets about themselves and their own unique gifts. They must make important choices that sometimes means overcoming their own nature.
A delightful element of the novel is how Wachpress handles color and body image issues. Doshmisi must grapple with her vanity while Maia turns to tradition to find physical beauty. Also, in a choice reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz, people of each land have their own color. The children, whose skin is chocolate brown, are considered to be pale because their brown skin isn’t tinged with the colors found in the various lands. It’s an interesting twist in which color is not merely black or white, but rather filled with numerous shadings and tints.
Wachpress creates a story with characters both lovable and despicable. They each come with their own unique traits and many have their own speech patterns, making for a fascinating read.
While much of the world seems like a utopia, it is constantly under threat from the enchanter who wants to destroy it. It’s almost difficult to understand how such evil could have arisen from a land which was so strongly based on interdependence, socialism, and generosity.
One guideline that authors often use is to make sure that the major characters have names that start with a different letter. It's a trick used to help keep their readers from becoming confused about who is who. Granted, authors often break this rule for many reasons. Wachpress might have benefited from following the guideline a little more often. There were so many names that started with "C" that it was sometimes difficult to keep track of who was who. It was almost necessary to make a list with notes jotted next to it.
These quibbles aside, I was drawn deeply into the story and found it a fascinating read. Its 260 pages were in the best tradition of fantasy literature and it filled a niche that is often neglected by mainstream publishing.
This review was originally published at Epinions.com http://www.epinions.com/content_42420...
Four young people are living with their aunt after the death of their mother. Their father had disappeared years before. The four children, Doshmisi, Denzel, Maia, and Sonjay miss their city life on the secluded farm that their aunt owns. Then Midsummer arrives and their lives change as they are sent on a quest to the land of Faracadar to recover the Staff of Shakabaz from the evil enchanter Sissrath.
While their aunt and uncles know much about the land they are about to send their nieces and nephews into, they claim that nothing can be told them before they go. This, of course, is a literary device that allows the readers to learn along with the protagonists and saves too much wearisome exposition in the beginning. That said, one does sometimes wish that the four children would be given a little more explanation once they arrive in the land beyond the wardrobe. Pardon me, the cottage, not the wardrobe.
While there are plenty of parallels that can be drawn to C.S. Lewis' Narnia tales, The Call to Shakabaz is not Christian allegory. Rather it is closer to a parable of non-violence and the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. His name is even invoked in the book as Sonjay searches for answers to their quest.
As a fantasy adventure, this young adult novel—written at a 6th grade reading level with an interest level tagged at 4th through 9th—is filled with many wonderful elements. All of the characters experience meaningful growth throughout the course of the novel and must discover secrets about themselves and their own unique gifts. They must make important choices that sometimes means overcoming their own nature.
A delightful element of the novel is how Wachpress handles color and body image issues. Doshmisi must grapple with her vanity while Maia turns to tradition to find physical beauty. Also, in a choice reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz, people of each land have their own color. The children, whose skin is chocolate brown, are considered to be pale because their brown skin isn’t tinged with the colors found in the various lands. It’s an interesting twist in which color is not merely black or white, but rather filled with numerous shadings and tints.
Wachpress creates a story with characters both lovable and despicable. They each come with their own unique traits and many have their own speech patterns, making for a fascinating read.
While much of the world seems like a utopia, it is constantly under threat from the enchanter who wants to destroy it. It’s almost difficult to understand how such evil could have arisen from a land which was so strongly based on interdependence, socialism, and generosity.
One guideline that authors often use is to make sure that the major characters have names that start with a different letter. It's a trick used to help keep their readers from becoming confused about who is who. Granted, authors often break this rule for many reasons. Wachpress might have benefited from following the guideline a little more often. There were so many names that started with "C" that it was sometimes difficult to keep track of who was who. It was almost necessary to make a list with notes jotted next to it.
These quibbles aside, I was drawn deeply into the story and found it a fascinating read. Its 260 pages were in the best tradition of fantasy literature and it filled a niche that is often neglected by mainstream publishing.
This review was originally published at Epinions.com http://www.epinions.com/content_42420...
May 4, 2008
Reviewed by Carrie Spellman for TeensReadToo.com
Doshmisi, Denzel, Maia, and Sonjay always thought Aunt Alice's Manzanita Ranch was a great place to visit, but they never thought they would have to live there. But when their mother died unexpectedly, that's where they moved to. It hasn't been very long since then, and the kids are bored stiff. It's a good thing they have the family Midsummer party to look forward to. Although without their mom, or even the cousins who are inexplicably absent, even that might not be much fun.
What starts out as a rather dull, depressing day gets a lot more interesting with a strange lesson in family history. It turns out that the two brothers and two sisters are "The Four." Descendants of a line of four brothers and sisters who can pass through their own dimension and into Faracadar. With their mother gone, the time of their mother and aunt and uncles have passed. It is up to the new Four now.
But what is "it"? Trust me, they want to know as much as you do. Unfortunately, one of the rules is that they don't get to know much the first time around. All they know is that they have to get the Staff of Shakabaz away from a guy named Sissrath. Who that is, how they do it, why they have to, and even what Faracadar is, they'll have to figure out for themselves. They'll have to work together, learning what each of their strengths are and how to use them, and maybe they'll be able to pull it all off.
THE CALL TO SHAKABAZ is richly imagined and incredibly detailed, both land and story. At first it's a bit like a modern version of THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE. But by the end of the tale you realize it's so much deeper than that. This is a book about finding personal strength, in all different forms, and appreciating the talents of others, and the strength in uniting different people, and so much more! I want to buy a copy for everyone I know, regardless of age, race, or sex. It's part fantasy, part history lesson, part real life -- I can't even describe it! But, it's beautiful, and it's kind of a picture of what I'd like to see our world look like. Although maybe without the greenish sun -- that might be a little weird.
Doshmisi, Denzel, Maia, and Sonjay always thought Aunt Alice's Manzanita Ranch was a great place to visit, but they never thought they would have to live there. But when their mother died unexpectedly, that's where they moved to. It hasn't been very long since then, and the kids are bored stiff. It's a good thing they have the family Midsummer party to look forward to. Although without their mom, or even the cousins who are inexplicably absent, even that might not be much fun.
What starts out as a rather dull, depressing day gets a lot more interesting with a strange lesson in family history. It turns out that the two brothers and two sisters are "The Four." Descendants of a line of four brothers and sisters who can pass through their own dimension and into Faracadar. With their mother gone, the time of their mother and aunt and uncles have passed. It is up to the new Four now.
But what is "it"? Trust me, they want to know as much as you do. Unfortunately, one of the rules is that they don't get to know much the first time around. All they know is that they have to get the Staff of Shakabaz away from a guy named Sissrath. Who that is, how they do it, why they have to, and even what Faracadar is, they'll have to figure out for themselves. They'll have to work together, learning what each of their strengths are and how to use them, and maybe they'll be able to pull it all off.
THE CALL TO SHAKABAZ is richly imagined and incredibly detailed, both land and story. At first it's a bit like a modern version of THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE. But by the end of the tale you realize it's so much deeper than that. This is a book about finding personal strength, in all different forms, and appreciating the talents of others, and the strength in uniting different people, and so much more! I want to buy a copy for everyone I know, regardless of age, race, or sex. It's part fantasy, part history lesson, part real life -- I can't even describe it! But, it's beautiful, and it's kind of a picture of what I'd like to see our world look like. Although maybe without the greenish sun -- that might be a little weird.
August 2, 2007
Colour, music, scents and sentiment spill out of this pictureless fantasy novel and sweep us into a story of suspense, self-discovery and nonviolent resistance. Our girls laughed, swooned, quaked and cheered — then happily chirped “Satyagraha!”.
Listen to our chat about this book on our JustOneMoreBook.com Children's Book Podcast:
http://www.justonemorebook.com/2007/0...
And our interview with author Amy Wachspress:
http://www.justonemorebook.com/2007/0...
Listen to our chat about this book on our JustOneMoreBook.com Children's Book Podcast:
http://www.justonemorebook.com/2007/0...
And our interview with author Amy Wachspress:
http://www.justonemorebook.com/2007/0...
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November 26, 2014Outstanding read.. I shared it with a student, and we both loved it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews