“Well, you certainly messed that up,” said Carrie the cat. Genre: Children’s, Realistic, Fantasy “I wish that Carrie the cat couldn’t talk any of the time!” said Martha, not stopping to think it out.

Rating: 4/5 Recommended Age Range: 12+ Warnings: Some possibly gruesome scenes Eager does manage to balance it pretty well, and if it ends happily a bit too neatly and conveniently, then it’s the result of the trend of children’s literature written in that time (and actually less moralizing than others). The parts of the book where the children are learning a lesson/trying to fix what they did are some of the more tedious parts of the book to get through, but not by very much. At times, though, the children’s development is a bit too pat and they seem to take astounding leaps in logic at some points, figuring things out with barely any hints at all. It was also, I think, one of the funnier chapters in the book, partly due to the dialogue and partly due to the shenanigans (one of which is featured on the cover art, which is actually a pretty gruesome scene for a children’s book). My second favorite part of this book was the trip back to King Arthur’s days and the glorious vocabulary that was spoken. That book is even mentioned in detail (and is full of spoilers, unfortunately, so watch out for that)! Although, I did find the magic in this one more entertaining (but much less beautiful than Castle’s), simply because of how complicated it got. Really, this entire book is an homage to The Enchanted Castle. What is half of twice a talking cat? Or to be half-again twice not-here? And how do you double your most heartfelt wish, the one you care about so much that it has to be perfect? My favorite part of this book was Eager fanboying about Edith Nesbit.

Wishing for two times some things is a cinch, but other doubled wishes only cause twice as much trouble. It turns out the coin grants wishes-but only by half, so that you must wish for twice as much as you want. Jane finds the coin, and because she and her siblings are having the worst, most dreadfully boring summer ever, she idly wishes something exciting would happen. It all begins with a strange coin on a sun-warmed sidewalk. Half Magic, by Edward Eager, was first published in 1954 by Harcourt.

Edward eager tales of magic