Product Description

Glorious new rejacket of a Diana Wynne Jones classic award-winning favourite, featuring Chrestomanci -- now a book with extra bits! Everybody says that Gwendolyn Chant is a gifted witch with astonishing powers, so it suits her enormously when she is taken to live in Chrestomanci Castle. Her brother Eric (better known as Cat) is not so keen, for he has no talent for magic at all. However, life with the great enchanter is not what either of them expects and sparks begin to fly! Winner of the Guardian Award.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #87200 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-19
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .60 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Omnibus paperback editions combine two Chrestomanci novels in each volume: Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant make up The Chronicles of Chrestomanci: Volume I; Volume II has The Magicians of Caprona and Witch Week.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8–In this recording of Diana Wynne Jones's first novel in the Chrestomanci quartet (Morrow Avon, pap. 1998), British actor Gerard Doyle strikes just the right tone as he delivers the story of Cat Chant and his sister Gwendolen, orphaned as the result of a tragic boat accident and adopted by their relative, the mysterious sorcerer Chrestomanci. Cat begins to settle in at Chrestomanci Castle, but Gwendolen hates it. No one—least of all Chrestomanci—seems to appreciate Gwendolyn's magical powers, and after weeks of playing nasty magical practical jokes on the various inhabitants of the Castle, Gwendolyn finally leaves by going into a parallel world and replacing herself in Cat's world with a double called Janet. Cat and Janet eventually find the way to set the worlds right again, with some help from unexpected quarters. Doyle's pacing and voices are well executed and entertaining. This would be a good way to introduce a new generation of children to Diana Wynne Jones's magical fantasy, and it will encourage them to read the other novels in the Chrestomanci series.–Sarah Flowers, Santa Clara County Library, San Jose, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"!Her hallmarks include laugh-aloud humour, plenty of magic and imaginative array of alternate worlds. Yet, at the same time, a great seriousness is present in all of her novels, a sense of urgency that links Jones's most outrageous plots to her readers' hopes and fears!" Publishers Weekly "Truly magical -- guaranteed to leave you gasping -- even hotter than Potter" The Bookseller "Diana Wynne Jones could teach Stephen King and JK Rowling a thing or two ! [she] has a skill for inserting just the right amount of detail in her written words, leaving you satiated but not stuffed." SFX