The Serpent's Spell

MiddleGate Bk. 1:
The Serpent's Spell
by Rae Bridgman

THE SERPENT'S SPELL by

Category: Fantasy

Age Recommendation: Grades 6+

Release Date: 4/15/06

Publisher: Great Plains Publications

Reviewed by:

Rating: 4 Stars

William Wychwood was born to a magical family, but he doesn't know this until fifth grade, when he and his pet

snake,

Esme, must go to live with his aunts and his cousin Sophie whom he has never met. They live in Middlegate, a

village that is

hidden inside Winnipeg, Manitoba, and entered through a magical gate. Wil and Sophie enroll in school

at Gruffud's

Academy, where the curriculum includes classes that you and I never had in school; numeristics,

verbology, and botanicals

may have some parallels to modern classes, but they are quite different. One of the

favorite games is snapdragon, a battle

of wits between shadows.

Wil and Sophie are concerned about the deaths of hundreds of the sacred snakes of Narcisse, and they decide to

try to

find out what happened to these wonderful creatures. While on a field trip to see the snakes, Wil and Sophie

discover a

clue and begin a magical journey of exciting adventures.

Wil has a magical medallion that his grandmother had entrusted to him before she died in a suspicious fire, and it may

have

something to do with the mystery of the snakes. The kids encounter danger with kidnappings, serpents, evil

magic, and

shadow duals. In this very imaginative fantasy, Bridgman adds a numeristic table of contents, Latin

verbiage, and sketchings

that bring the magic of snakes and sorcery alive. The characters are exciting and fresh, and

the plot is fast-paced and

creative.