THE BOOK WITHOUT WORDS by Avi
    Category:  Fantasy
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  9/1/06
    Publisher:  Hyperion
    Reviewed by:  Carrie Spellman
    Rating:  5 Stars


    What defines a life? How can you know that you’ve really lived your life? These are questions that Sybil has never
    thought about, until now. Now her master, Thorston, has died, and she and Odo, his talking bird, are likely to end up
    on the street. Unless they can figure out Thorston’s secret for making gold.

    Thorston was a magician. Not just an ordinary magician, but an alchemist, concerned with finding eternal life above all
    else. Now he’s dead, and the few people who knew of his existence are left to define their own.

    Odo thinks Sybil is dumb and useless, but he needs her to perform human functions like opening things and talking to
    people. Sybil thinks Odo is cruel and evil, but she needs him to help with the magic since he was with Thorston much
    longer than she was. A shaky alliance is born. The two acquire questionable aid from Alfric, a young beggar, and
    Damian, an herbal apprentice. Alfric has been sent by two different people who both want the same thing, though he
    doesn’t now why or how. All he knows is that Sybil is the first person that has been kind to him since his parents died.
    Damian is out for his own share of the gold, and nothing else. They are all stuck inside Thorston’s house, under
    constant watch of Bashcroft, the man in charge of law and order, who wants the secret of never-ending life. No one
    knows who to trust, or who holds the most knowledge. The only true key is Thorston, and he’s not planning on sharing.

    They are left to figure out who they all truly are, and find the true value of a life.
The Book Without Words:
A Fable of Medieval Magic
by Avi