BDCHS Advanced Reading discussion

I am doing my fiction book review on a action packed novel written by James Patterson, Witch and Wizard. Before I begin the review its best to note that this book is written in first person format and changes which first person perspective it is from Wisty to Whit depending on the chapter. When reading this story I often caught myself thinking that two teenagers wrote a story about their magic adventure, James Patterson is a fantastic writer who without a doubt can write any age. I chose this book because it centers around magic and the results if magic was real in the world today.


Setting: Witch and Wizard takes place in a post-apocalyptic world with magic infused in it. You have the Overworld which is everything that is visible on earth, the Underworld is everything that is not visible to normal people such as the Shadowland. The Shadowland, home of the Lost Souls and Half-lights, is only accessible through small portals that appear and disappear randomly on the Overworld. Something to mention is that any person or animal who can access the Shadowland, even if they did not know is called a Curve. In this book our main characters only go to the Overworld and the Shadowland. Now at the time this book is taking place, the Overworld is starting to be ruled by the New Order, a new political group who has been winning the last elections for a long time, their goal is to take over the world and by doing so are killing all the witches and wizards when they turn eighteen. As a result the Overworld is split into two parts: New Order controlled land and Freeland. The Freeland is the regions of the Overworld that have not been touched by the New Order. Also to note is that only setting that resides in the Freeland is called Garfunkel’s, a safehouse for kids who have been persecuted by the New Order. At Garfunkel's their system of government is having a 'leader of the week', which means you have a different leader every week. The rest of the places mention happen in the New Order territory such as the Hospital, City of Progress, New Order Reformatory/Overworld Prison, and Wisty and Whit’s old home.


Characters: There are many characters that are mentioned in the book but for time I will only mention the main and key characters. Wisteria ‘Wisty’ Allgood is fifteen-years-old girl, the only sister/sibling of Whit, and she is a die heart tomboy who doesn’t take no for an answer. Whitford ‘Whit’ Allgood is seventeen (turns eighteen during the novel), the only brother/sibling of Wisty, and he is athletic but is mentally weakened due to the mysterious absence of his girlfriend-Celia making him constantly depressed throughout the book. Ben and Eliza Allgood are the parents of Whit and Wisty. At the beginning of the novel both Wisty and Whit are revealed to be a powerful witch and wizard. Celia is the girlfriend of Whit, who is missing at the beginning of the novel. Bryon Swain is the annoying kid from school who is revealed to be a New Order spay, but ends up helping Whit and Wisty due to his change of heart. The One Who Is 'The One' is the mysterious leader of the New Order. He appears rarely in the book and seems to be a wizard even though his mission is to eliminate all witches and wizards. Janine is revealed to be the ‘leader of the week’ at the arrival of Whit and Wisty also she slowly shows feelings towards Whit. Feffer a Curve dog who travels with them through the Shadowland and becomes loyal to Wisty. Jonathan, a member of the resistance, aids the Allgoods in their mission for the jail break. Sasha, a magical friend of Cecila, leads them through the Shadowland while trying to avoid the Lost Souls.


The Summary: Witch and Wizard follows the magical adventure of Wisty and Whit as they try to stop the New Order and most importantly The One Who Is 'The One' from taking over the Overworld and the Underworld. From being accused of being a witch and wizard to being thrown in jail to saving children from a New Order Reformatory to about to be hung, the Allgood children have had a lot on their plate for only four days. This novel is apart of the Witch and Wizard series and serves as the kick starter to the franchise.


Plot: The novel begins with the New Order police breaking in to the Allgood house while accusing Whit and Wisy of being a witch and a wiazard. As the New Order surrounds the Allgood family, Bryon Swain appears from the shadows to tell Whit and Wisty that being a witch and a wizard is against the New Order law and as a result they are allowed to take one item per person to prison with them. Mr. and Mrs. Allgood scramble to get a old drumstick and a worthless book, and tell their children that they will know what to do when the time comes. Wisty and Whit Allgood protest these claims of being a magical, but to no avail they are arrested and taken to the New Order Reformatory/Overworld prison. Whit and Wisty are thrown into jail with other children beside them ranging from all ages. As a guard moves Wisty into a jail cell she burst into flames as she gets angry. Rather quickly, they are taken into a court room with The One Who Judges. The trial in concluded quickly when they are found guilty of having magic with little proof. Therefore, when being taken out of the court room Whit tries to stop and tell the crowd that he is not a wizard, a guard hits him, and Whit without knowing makes the club levitate. Due Whit's accidental display of magic, both the Allgood children are moved to a special facility that eliminates magical powers, where you will wait until you are eighteen to be executed. Instantly, Whit and Wisty learn the awful conditions that they are living in for example, if you do not get your food and water in less than four minutes, while running through dogs, you won't receive any food. Through the days that Whit and Wisty stay there they discover their magical abilities more and more, they turn Bryon into a weasel, and most important they find Cecila. She reveals to them that the New Order killed her and she exists as a Half-Life, a spirit figure that can not live in the Overworld for long, making her reside in the Shadowland when Whit discovers her presence. With the discover of Cecila, Whit and Wisty create a plan to escape using small portals that can go to and from the Shadowland. Whit, Wisty, Cecila, and Bryon escape through the portal with a Curve dog named Feffer. As they journey through the Shadowland to their exit portal they run into Sasha who guides them the rest of the day. As they make their way to the next portal the group is encountered by The Lost Ones, warmth-consuming zombie like figures who were once humans that got lost in the Shadowland and constantly seek a way out. Through the use of deception they make it out alive and go to Garfunkel's where they meet Janine.With many conversations and a magic book shelf, Janine reaches the conclusion that Whit and Wisty are the chosen siblings that end the reign of the New Order as prophesied. Although there is much celebration with this news, Whit and Wisty start to learn the terrible things that the children faced. Whit and Wisty finally agree to help break out children in the jail because Sasha told them that their parents were there. Bryon before the mission apologies for being so mean to them and says that he is coming with them to show that he is loyal. After the children are saved from the jail, Jonathan is revealed to be a traitor and almost ruined the mission. As Whit and Wisty are about to escape the prison The One Who Is The One confronts them. He tells them that according to the prophesies that they will stop the New Order yet they will be hanged and the prophesies can not be changed then departs in a tornado. Before Whit and Wisty are about to go on another mission to stop The One Who Is The One, they discover their old house and decide to go to it. As they come closer, their parents through magic they explain what is happening to their children. With their help they turn the drumstick into a wand and the old book into a book full of spells. After a sad depart, Bryon emerges from the bushes no longer as a weasel but in normal form due to Mrs. Allgood transforming him back. From their house Whit and Wisty go back to Garfunkel's and change their appearance for the mission. The mission sadly results in Whit and Wisty being caught and standing on a platform about to be hung in front of their parents. Wisty tells the readers to be strong and seize the moment before she ends the book with a cliff hanger. The book actually ends the same way it begins so you read knowing the ending.


The main problem of the story is that the New Order has taken over almost everything and are trying to kill all of the witches and wizards in the process due to The One Who Is The One instigating this command. Although the problem is not resolved, due to this book being apart of a series, the book ends with another problem, they have to somehow escape the execution and resolve their problems from before. One problem is resolved which is getting the children out of the New Order jail.


There are many thought provoking themes through Witch and Wizard such as darkness and light. Throughout the whole book both Whit and Wisty are always being told that there are two sides; good and bad/dark and light. As the book progresses they understand that the world is always just going to be black and white when it comes to your morals. From the beginning Whit and Wisty decide to be apart of the light and fight for what they believe and want, freedom. Some things are worth fighting for, is something that I learned from the book. Every character no matter what side they are on are constantly fighting for what they believe is morally right. Sometimes what we are fighting for are things that we should be fighting. Constantly we make many mistakes but you have to remember that you always will have a chance to redeem yourself just like Bryon showed Wisty in the novel. Another important lesson that I learned from Wisty which was seize the moment. Seizing the moment I feel as though many people today don't do due to that we always have his mind set of putting this off until tomorrow. Through this fiction book I learned many lessons that apply to this nonfiction world.


I gave Witch and Wizard by James Patterson a 3 out of 5 due to the character development. Throughout the book I constantly got the impression that Mr. Patterson was making Whit, a main character, an after thought. It seemed to me that Whit got no powers while Wisty got everything. I don’t have a problem with main female characters leading but I fell in love with Whit and hoped that he would be the leader but I was quickly disappointed when Wisty was revealed to be the 'bettter' sibling. Whit in my opinion should have had more of an lead between them two. But besides that I really though that this was a must read book just because James Patterson is such a talented author. It was actually sad when I finished the book. I would recommend this book to anyone of any age due to it being a easy enjoyable read. In my mind, this book would be a 5 out of 5 if Whit was not portrayed as weak as he was. Please don't let my review of the book prohibit you from reading the book or make you doubt reading it.