Monday, December 20, 2010

A Ghost Tale For Christmas Time (Magic Tree #44)

A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time. Mary Pope Osborne. Illustrated by Sal Murdocca. 2010. Random House. 128 pages.

Jack and Annie were walking home from soccer practice. It was four-thirty in the afternoon. Sunlight was fading quickly.

Jack and Annie are off on another magical adventure--their 44th--in Mary Pope Osborne's A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time. In this "Merlin Mission" they are "saving" the world once again by using a magical instrument (this time a violin) to reach out to an incredibly gifted but at least temporarily depressed individual (this time Charles Dickens.) These two kids travel back in time to Victorian London--1843. Their goal is to find Dickens and encourage him to keep writing. While there, they witness some of the horrors of London life--if you're a poverty-stricken child. And, as you might have guessed by now, they "inspire" Dickens to write A Christmas Carol during their visit.

I am not a fan of Magic Tree House. I think this is only my second adventure, but I have a stronger opinion on this one. It just didn't work for me--as an adult reader. Perhaps if I was eight, perhaps if I was in an obsessed-with-series stage of reading, then I would think it more entertaining than how I perceive it now.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

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