Real or Magic?

by Kari Stokely, Rosabel Rosalind (Illustrator), Lisa Cerasoli (Editor)

Overview

"A playful and educational time-travel adventure."—Kirkus Reviews

Do you believe time travel is possible? Look at the potting shed that's splattered with "Do Not Enter" graffiti and guarded by the golden-horned dragon. If you figure out how to unlock its door and then dial the antique phone inside, you'll accompany Sky and Hoppy to the Ice Age—50,000 years ago. There, a courageous battle for freedom is about to begin! BEWARE: If you don't keep track of time, you won't return to the present!

Life is full of battles. Often, actually more often than not, something wonderful emerges from the battle—something that would have never otherwise happened.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781735578507
Publisher:	Kari Stokely
Publication date:	12/05/2020
Pages:	218
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.46(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

Editorial Reviews

2021-02-12
An imaginative girl learns about her ancestors in this middle-grade fantasy.

Sixth grader Sky lives in Quebec City, Canada, with her parents. When her Papa, a policeman, loses his job, the family must move to her grandfather’s farmhouse. Sky hates the idea of leaving her friends and being home-schooled and refuses to go. Nevertheless, the family arrives at the farmhouse. Grandpa Doc helps her settle into her new room with her prized possessions, including Hoppy, her stuffed bunny. He promises to show Sky her great-grandma Stella’s observatory, perfect for stargazing in the country. He further cheers her up with a coin that spins to reveal “tiny galaxies made up of teeny-tiny stars and planets.” He then asks: “Real or magic, Sky?” Before dinner, the girl explores the outdoors. She and Hoppy find a stone potting shed covered in thickets. The door says “Do Not Enter.” She imagines the shed is a castle, with an adjacent stream as the moat, guarded by a dragon. The magic word unlock allows Sky inside the shed, where she finds a candlestick telephone. Miraculously, a phone operator promises to connect her to someone named Lune. Lune is a girl living in the Pyrenees region of France 50,000 years in Sky’s past. Lune’s relatives are the Tainted Ones, who are subjugated by Loch, king of the Powerful Ones. Loch hears the Full Moon speak, and it wants him to punish the Tainted Ones, who have Tall Tribe ancestry. Will Loch sacrifice Lune’s family before a hero can intervene? Stokely aims to introduce middle-grade audiences to the Ice Age and narrative flexibility in this fantasy adventure series opener. The issue of whether something is real or magic—part of Sky’s reality or imagination—brings joy to the proceedings. Hoppy often talks to Sky, offering a unique perspective. For example, the rabbit says, “That was a huge dragon!”—though Sky believes it’s the size of a “small dog.” When she’s transported to the past, she returns wearing a bracelet, a detail that sharp readers will find noteworthy. At the other end of the imaginative spectrum, Loch hears the Full Moon and justifies his evil, but the tribal Medicine Man knows he’s mentally ill. The author expounds on this later when Sky wonders if “something happened” to Loch “and he turned evil?” While the prose moves swiftly, moments of beauty linger, as when Sky explores a cave beneath a frozen lake: “The sunlight was trapped—endlessly bouncing from the clear, fresh flowing water below to the icy ceiling that soared high above. The whole place was illuminated with a turquoise glow.” There are scary moments, too, as when Sky stumbles into gory animal heads hanging from a tree. Overall, Stokely whets young readers’ appetites regarding humanity’s origin as tool users without eclipsing the story. And if modern humans resulted from the sometimes-violent merging of ancient tribes, Grandpa Doc reminds Sky that “out of most battles, something wonderful happens that would have never happened otherwise.” Rosalind’s detailed black and white illustrations jubilantly punctuate the tale.

A playful and educational time-travel adventure.

Kirkus Reviews