The Gift (Witch and Wizard Series #2)

by James Patterson, Ned Rust

Overview

Ever since Whit and Wisty Allgood were cruelly torn from their home and family in the middle of the night, the soldiers of a brutal totalitarian government have relentlessly tried to capture and execute them for "collusion, conspiracy, and experimentation with the dark and foul arts." But this increasingly skilled witch and wizard have boldly spearheaded the fight against the wicked regime of the New Order and its systematic destruction of music, art, books, and imagination. Now the villainous leader of the New Order is just a breath away from the ability to control the forces of nature and to manipulate his citizens on the most profound level imaginable—through their minds. There is only one more thing he needs to triumph in his evil quest: the Gifts of Whit and Wisty Allgood. And he will stop at nothing to seize them.

In this second installment of James Patterson's epic Witch & Wizard series, Whit and Wisty's heart-pounding adventures through the Overworld and Shadowland lead to a jaw-dropping climax and conclusion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316038355
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/25/2011
Series:	Witch and Wizard Series , #2
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	53,812
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

JAMES PATTERSON was selected by teens across America as the Children's Choice Book Awards Author of the Year in 2010. He is the internationally bestselling author of the highly praised Maximum Ride novels, the Witch & Wizard series (which was nominated for the 2011 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards), the Daniel X series, Med Head, and the detective series featuring Alex Cross and the Women's Murder Club. His books have sold more than 205 million copies worldwide, making him one of the bestselling authors of all time. He lives in Florida.

Ned Rust lives in Croton, NY, with his family. He has also collaborated with James Patterson on Daniel X: Watch the Skies and Witch & Wizard: The Gift.

Hometown:

Palm Beach, Florida

Date of Birth:

March 22, 1947

Place of Birth:

Newburgh, New York

Education:

B.A., Manhattan College, 1969; M.A., Vanderbilt University, 1971

Website:

http://www.jamespatterson.com

Read an Excerpt

Witch & Wizard: The Gift

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By Patterson, James

Little, Brown and Company

Copyright © 2010 Patterson, James
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780316036252

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Book One

The Girl with The Gift

Chapter 1

Whit

LISTEN TO ME. We don’t have much time.

My name is Whit Allgood. I guess you’ve heard of me and my sister, Wisty, and of the crazy stuff that’s happened, but here’s the thing: it’s so much worse than you think it is.

Trust me when I tell you that these are the worst of times and that the best of times are little more than a distant memory. And no one seems to be paying attention to what’s going on. Are you?

Paying attention?

Imagine that all the things you love most in the world—and probably take for granted—are now banned. Your books, music, movies, art… all snatched away. Burned. That’s life under the New Order, the so-called government—or brutal totalitarian regime—that’s taken over this world. Now, with every waking breath, we have to fight for every freedom we have left. Even our imagination is at risk. Can you picture your government trying to destroy that? It’s inhuman.

And yet… they’re calling us criminals.

That’s right. Wisty and I are the offenders in that unhappy propaganda piece brought to you by the New Order. Our crime? Engaging in free thought and creativity.… Oh, and practicing the “dark and foul arts”—i.e., magic.

Did I lose you? Let me back up a bit.

One night not so long ago, my family was awakened by soldiers storming through our home. Wisty and I were cruelly torn from our parents and slammed into a prison—a death camp for kids. And for what?

They accused us of being a witch and a wizard.

But, the thing is, it turns out the N.O. was actually right about that: we didn’t know it at the time, but Wisty and I do have powers. Magic powers. And now we’re scheduled to be publicly executed, along with our parents.

That particular ghoulish event hasn’t taken place yet—though it will. I promise those of you who crave suspense, adventure, and bloodshed that you can look forward to it. And you will, if you’re anything like the rest of the brainwashed “citizenry” of our land.

But if you’re one of the few who’ve escaped the N.O.’s clutches, you need to hear my story. And Wisty’s story. And the story of the Resistance. So when we’re gone, there’s someone left to spread the word.

Someone to fight the good fight.

And so we begin with the story of another public execution: a sad and unfortunate event, an accident, as luck or fate would have it. In a phrase that I hate to use under any circumstances: a tragedy.

Continues...

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Excerpted from Witch & Wizard: The Gift by Patterson, James Copyright © 2010 by Patterson, James. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

"Dialogue-heavy and action-packed, the writing throughout is inventive and colorfully detailed. Written in a conversational tone by Patterson and co-author Ned Rust, it's as if the reader's craziest best friend was recounting a wildly apocryphal tale, and doing so for about four hours, which is about how long it takes to read the book. It's easy to visualize the story, which may explain why movie rights to this series have already been snatched up."—LA Times

"Chapter endings are suspenseful cliffhangers and urge even the most tentative reader to keep reading! We can expect more from this dynamic sibling team in the future."—San Francisco Book Review

From the Publisher

"Chapter endings are suspenseful cliffhangers and urge even the most tentative reader to keep reading! We can expect more from this dynamic sibling team in the future."

San Francisco Book Review

"Dialogue-heavy and action-packed, the writing throughout is inventive and colorfully detailed. Written in a conversational tone by Patterson and co-author Ned Rust, it's as if the reader's craziest best friend was recounting a wildly apocryphal tale, and doing so for about four hours, which is about how long it takes to read the book. It's easy to visualize the story, which may explain why movie rights to this series have already been snatched up."

LA Times

Gr 7–10—In Witch & Wizard (Little, Brown, 2009), Whit and Wisty Allgood were taken from their family in the middle of the night, accused of witchcraft, and imprisoned by the corrupt government. This sequel picks up as Whit manages to save his captured sister from public execution. On the run from "The One Who Is The One" (the evil ruler of this apocalyptic world), the siblings' recently discovered magical powers are their only hope of finding their rebel cohorts and escaping capture and certain death. Once safe for the moment, Whit becomes preoccupied with finding his murdered girlfriend in the Shadowlands and jotting poetry/spells in his magic journal. Wisty practices her power of controlling fire while dabbling in an occasional musical performance and exploring a budding romance with the drummer of a popular rebel rock band. There is no real safe haven for these siblings, though, and they find themselves imprisoned once again by "The One" with only a would-be traitor holding their key to escape. The action is relentless and there are too many close calls to count in this supernatural suspense thriller. The narration alternates between brother and sister, which, particularly in these very short chapters, can be confusing. Patterson's trademark mastery of gruesome and terrifying imagery makes this otherwise dull tale come alive a bit as readers are whisked at breakneck speed toward a culmination with no resolution. This sequel can stand alone, but is unlikely to draw new readers into the series.—Tara Kehoe, Plainsboro Public Library, NJ

School Library Journal

Whit and Wisty Allgood, sibling magic-users with amazingly unreliable powers, return to fight with their utterly expendable teen comrades against The One Who Is The One, dread master of the New Order, who hates the young and those with imagination (Witch & Wizard, 2009). Whit and Wisty carry out a mission and are betrayed. They are captured and escape. They run and are captured again. They try to save their parents (for naught), but spooky unknown forces save the teens who (obviously) live to fight again in the upcoming sequel. Fiction brand Patterson returns with a new "co-author," Rust, to pick up the story of the Allgoods, and what they offer is more nonsensical, inconsistent blather. There are no characters that even rise to the level of stereotypes and no genuine emotions in this embarrassing attempt at a "fantasy" series that insults both genre and audience at every turn. At worst, this reads like the ramblings of a just-waking-up toddler; at best, it reads like a Carol Burnett Sci-Fi sketch with all of the mugging and none of the laughs. A new low in children's publishing. (Fantasy. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews