Liesl is locked in the attic by her evil stepmother. She is sad because she
wasn’t able to see her sick father in the hospital and talk to him before he
died. When a boy ghost, Po, comes to visit her, she asks him to find her
dead dad and tell him she misses him and say, ”Goodbye.” At the same time the
alchemist’s apprentice, Will, has accidentally delivered a box of powerful magic
to Liesl’s house instead of her father’s ashes. When Liesl decides to runaway
and bury what she thinks is her father’s ashes a chase ensues that throws Will,
Po, and Liesl together fighting against all sorts of nasty people trying to
stop them.
The author has nice details so that it is easy to imagine the place and
characters. The characters don’t change much from beginning to end and the
villians are more like bumbling idiots which makes it less scary for younger
kids. The pacing might be slow for some readers because of the lack of tension.
The stepmother tries to kill Liesl and the kids are bound up against their will
but there is a good adult in the bad bunch that looks out for them. There are
not many surprises with the plot and the characters are innocent and naive. The
book does look at death and where people go after they die but it isn’t in
depth. A good book for an elementary library and an advanced younger reader. The
vocabulary is high.
Reading Level 6.5
3 out of 5 Smileys
Liesl is locked in the attic by her evil stepmother. She is sad because she wasn’t able to see her sick father in the hospital and talk to him before he died. When a boy ghost, Po, comes to visit her, she asks him to find her dead dad and tell him she misses him and say, ”Goodbye.” At the same time the alchemist’s apprentice, Will, has accidentally delivered a box of powerful magic to Liesl’s house instead of her father’s ashes. When Liesl decides to runaway and bury what she thinks is her father’s ashes a chase ensues that throws Will, Po, and Liesl together fighting against all sorts of nasty people trying to stop them.
The author has nice details so that it is easy to imagine the place and characters. The characters don’t change much from beginning to end and the villians are more like bumbling idiots which makes it less scary for younger kids. The pacing might be slow for some readers because of the lack of tension. The stepmother tries to kill Liesl and the kids are bound up against their will but there is a good adult in the bad bunch that looks out for them. There are not many surprises with the plot and the characters are innocent and naive. The book does look at death and where people go after they die but it isn’t in depth. A good book for an elementary library and an advanced younger reader. The vocabulary is high.
Reading Level 6.5
3 out of 5 Smileys
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