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The Books of Magic #3
The Books of Magic: The Children's Crusade
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? Timothy Hunter is just like any other thirteen-year-old boy in London . . . except for the tiny fact that he might be the most powerful magician of his time. There is a secret world for children in danger, and right now it needs Tim's power to survive. But how can he help when he is still trying to figure out how to use his magic -- and when certain dark forces seem to have sinister plans of their own?
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
2 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
Carla Jablonski
45 books63 followersCarla Jablonski is the author and editor of dozens of best-selling books for teenage and middle-grade readers. She grew up in New York City, where she attended public schools and the Bronx High School of Science. She has a BA in anthropology from Vassar College and an MA from NYU's Gallatin School, an interdisciplinary program for which she combined playwriting, the history of gender issues in 19th Century Circus, and arts administration. "I wanted to write the play, contextualize the play, and learn how to produce the play for my degree," she explains. "I think I may have been the happiest graduate student at NYU -- I SO loved working toward my thesis."
While still in graduate school she supported herself as the editor of The Hardy Boys Mysteries. "When I interviewed for the job they asked me if I'd ever read the Hardy Boys as a kid. 'No way,' I scoffed. 'Those are BOY books! It was Nancy Drew for me!' Luckily my future boss had a sense of humor. She hired me after I promised I'd read the books if I got the job."
She has participated in the renowned Breadloaf Writers' Conference as well as Zoetrope's All-Story highly competitive writing workshop held at Francis Ford Coppella's resort in Belize. She has taught writing for the children's market, as well as "cold-reading" skills for teachers as part of Project:Read. Several of her books have been selected as part of the Accelerated Reader's program.
She continues to work freelance as an editor for publishers and for private clients, even as she writes novels and creates new series. She also has another career (and identity!) as a playwright, an actress, and a trapeze performer. "I try to keep the worlds separate," she explains about her multiple identities. "The different work I do has different audiences, so I want to keep them apart. But they're all me -- they're all ways of expressing what I'm thinking and feeling -- just in different mediums."
While still in graduate school she supported herself as the editor of The Hardy Boys Mysteries. "When I interviewed for the job they asked me if I'd ever read the Hardy Boys as a kid. 'No way,' I scoffed. 'Those are BOY books! It was Nancy Drew for me!' Luckily my future boss had a sense of humor. She hired me after I promised I'd read the books if I got the job."
She has participated in the renowned Breadloaf Writers' Conference as well as Zoetrope's All-Story highly competitive writing workshop held at Francis Ford Coppella's resort in Belize. She has taught writing for the children's market, as well as "cold-reading" skills for teachers as part of Project:Read. Several of her books have been selected as part of the Accelerated Reader's program.
She continues to work freelance as an editor for publishers and for private clients, even as she writes novels and creates new series. She also has another career (and identity!) as a playwright, an actress, and a trapeze performer. "I try to keep the worlds separate," she explains about her multiple identities. "The different work I do has different audiences, so I want to keep them apart. But they're all me -- they're all ways of expressing what I'm thinking and feeling -- just in different mediums."
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 26, 2014
I wished that there was more to this book. It's like, the story starts, the main character doesn't have much of a purpose, and then the story ends. I mean, I loved the world building and several of the characters, but they shortened it too much! I mean, I know it's upper MG/young YA and that she has a page set and that probably it all depends on what was written in the original graphic novel, but my rating is still the level of disappointment and longing I felt at the end of the book.
February 17, 2022
Es un libro entretenido para pasar el rato, aunque cabe aclarar que se puede leer sin haber leído los 2 anteriores, yo lo hice así
April 15, 2018
The Children's Crusade
PLOT: Timothy Hunter (whose just coming to terms with his magic) is visited by a resident of Free Country (Maryah). Free Country is a place made by children for children to escape the "Bad World". The "Bad World" in a reference to slavery times were children were traded and sold. So Free Country is the opposite. It's like a fantasy world for kids. But something is happening to make the magic of Free Country diminish. And now It's up to Tim to rescue the children of Free Country
My Thoughts: The subject of this book was heavy for a kid's book. It starts with the trickery of children who think they are going to do some good in the world by going to war voluntarily only to be sent aboard a ship where some drown. Other's don't make it due to illness (because they're underfed). Then we heard about them being traded off, walked to exhaustion in the hot sun, beaten, and then thrown into a cell. It's enough to make your blood boil because even though it doesn't say we all know that the majority of these kids are probably African-American. I'm not saying that among them aren't other races, but come on. Let's not kid ourselves with names like Aiken. But the irony is even though the kids manage to escape their captors to this magical world they're doing to other kids the same thing that was done to them, and they don't even see that what they're doing is still "slavery". Because they're tricking these kids and holding them in a place against their will. It's VERY SAD! And it makes you sit and think about how sometimes when people are abused either physically, emotionally, or mentally as kids and that's all they see and know how when they get older they inflict the same hurt on other people. A lot of times they're even delusional enough to believe that what they're doing is "for the best". They don't even realize. So this book puts a lot on your mind. I felt like the ending was a little glossed over. Timothy reminds me a lot of Harry Potter. His dark hair and the glasses. Then there's the way he's just learning the ropes. And even a bit of his background. No mother. No father. But the difference is when Harry Potter does magic we all know what the magic's purpose is. There's a whole LEXICON of the spells in charms and what they're meant for. I guess we're meant to learn along with Timothy and be just as confused as he is. Looking into a mirror, glowing, and then seeing Free Country destroyed in the reflection just doesn't seem explained enough. Maybe I'm just too through.
RATE: I'm going to give this book a 7 because it puts something deep in your head to chew on.
PLOT: Timothy Hunter (whose just coming to terms with his magic) is visited by a resident of Free Country (Maryah). Free Country is a place made by children for children to escape the "Bad World". The "Bad World" in a reference to slavery times were children were traded and sold. So Free Country is the opposite. It's like a fantasy world for kids. But something is happening to make the magic of Free Country diminish. And now It's up to Tim to rescue the children of Free Country
My Thoughts: The subject of this book was heavy for a kid's book. It starts with the trickery of children who think they are going to do some good in the world by going to war voluntarily only to be sent aboard a ship where some drown. Other's don't make it due to illness (because they're underfed). Then we heard about them being traded off, walked to exhaustion in the hot sun, beaten, and then thrown into a cell. It's enough to make your blood boil because even though it doesn't say we all know that the majority of these kids are probably African-American. I'm not saying that among them aren't other races, but come on. Let's not kid ourselves with names like Aiken. But the irony is even though the kids manage to escape their captors to this magical world they're doing to other kids the same thing that was done to them, and they don't even see that what they're doing is still "slavery". Because they're tricking these kids and holding them in a place against their will. It's VERY SAD! And it makes you sit and think about how sometimes when people are abused either physically, emotionally, or mentally as kids and that's all they see and know how when they get older they inflict the same hurt on other people. A lot of times they're even delusional enough to believe that what they're doing is "for the best". They don't even realize. So this book puts a lot on your mind. I felt like the ending was a little glossed over. Timothy reminds me a lot of Harry Potter. His dark hair and the glasses. Then there's the way he's just learning the ropes. And even a bit of his background. No mother. No father. But the difference is when Harry Potter does magic we all know what the magic's purpose is. There's a whole LEXICON of the spells in charms and what they're meant for. I guess we're meant to learn along with Timothy and be just as confused as he is. Looking into a mirror, glowing, and then seeing Free Country destroyed in the reflection just doesn't seem explained enough. Maybe I'm just too through.
RATE: I'm going to give this book a 7 because it puts something deep in your head to chew on.
September 23, 2013
Este tercer libro nos trae otra gran aventura, esta vez en el País Libre. Este lugar es una especie del País de Nunca Jamás que rescata a niños en situaciones peligrosas. Pero algo empieza a andar mal en el País Libre y van en busca de Tim para que los ayude a solucionarlo todo.
Este libro me resultó más lento y menos elaborado, pero es bueno para la edad a la que se dirige.
Este libro me resultó más lento y menos elaborado, pero es bueno para la edad a la que se dirige.
March 11, 2016
The continuing adventures of Timothy Hunter as he tries to figure out how to be a magician. This time he ends up in another world populated by children. The children had been looking for him so that they could use his power to save the Free Country. He does indeed save Free Country, but not exactly the way they thought. Great story and can't wait to read the next story.
November 19, 2011
I liked the 2 previous novels, but this one was boring, and left me lacking. I hope the 4th is much better.
June 17, 2023
The Children's Crusade (The Books of Magic, #3) by Carla Jablonski - An interesting coming of age magical series! Happy Reading!
May 31, 2018
Novela basada en el comic de Neil Gaiman y John Bolton.
Want to read
February 28, 2016Edición argentina. Tercer y último tomo publicado acá.
July 11, 2016
So far great
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews