The Wizard's Son

by Violet Wilson

Fourteen-year-old Jake is used to being on his own. He hasn't heard from his father since he was seven; his mother has two jobs and night classes, so he is often alone at home. The independence is nice, but he gets scared in the empty apartment, especially at night. He often goes alone to see his 11-year-old sister, Sarah, who has early-onset schizophrenia and lives in a residence for mentally ill children. He holds out hope that a drug will come along to make Sarah okay. Besides Sarah, his closest friend is JT, a retired teacher. When she ends up with a half-wild, half-grown cat, Jake is immediately drawn to it. At JT's prodding, he starts writing down one of the stories he's thought up, a fairy tale about a teenage boy who must free his childhood friend, now a queen, from a wizard's curse. Scenes and characters are inspired by events and people from Jake's own life. When Sarah gets worse and is hospitalized, Jake worries that she will never get better. Then he starts to fear that he is going insane, too.

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012