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Loading... Half Magic (Edward Eager's Tales of Magic) (original 1954; edition 1999)by Edward Eager, N. M. Bodecker (Illustrator)
Work InformationHalf Magic by Edward Eager (1954)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Childhood read I wanted to like this, but I think time has not been kind to it. The Arab character made me cringe, as did the mother quitting her job and other bits of sexism. It does pretty well with the subject of stepfathers ("Uncle Huge" was maybe the funniest thing in the book besides the half-talking cat) and I can totally see how this would be beloved by earlier generations, but I just didn't enjoy it that much. I very nearly quit 3/4 of the way through. On the other hand, there is something to be said for little children who talk like the Queen of England. Exactly the sort of book I loved to read as the kid, where the girls get to do adventurous things too: one of them jousts with Sir Launcelot. Since it was published in 1954, it ought to have been on my radar screen as a child, but I missed it along with the novels of E. Nesbit. There is shocking racism in the book directed at arabs, asians, and native americans. There are several casual mentions of the natural superiority of boys, but that seems to be done with tongue in cheek. no reviews | add a review
Is contained inNotable Lists
Classic Literature.
Fantasy.
Juvenile Fiction.
Juvenile Literature.
It all begins with a strange coin on a sun-warmed sidewalk. 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. And something does: Her wish is granted. Or not quite. Only half of her wish comes true. It turns out the coin grants wishesâ??but only by half, so that you must wish for twice as much as you want. Wishing for two times some things is a cinch, but other doubled wishes only cause twice as much trouble. 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 it has to be perfe No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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