The Witch's Apprentice: Dragons in a Bag, Book 3
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that The Witch's Apprentice is the third book in Zetta Elliott's Dragons in a Bag series, an ongoing story about a Black tween boy in Brooklyn, his diverse cast of pals, and a growing collection of relatives and friends with roots in the world of magic. This installment takes title character Jax to a convention of witches in Chicago, where he encounters lots of local color, culture, art, history and more, much of it thanks to a hip guide who's a few centuries old at least. Against a spectacle-rich backdrop (the grand ball is not to be missed), a cosmic conflict is brewing between those who (successfully, in the first two books) want to keep the human world and the magic world separate, and those who want to open it all up. The answers may be elusive as both heroes and villains from other books show a more complicated side. While it introduces many new concepts and characters along with a lot of brooding uncertainty, it serves mainly to set up future installments, wrapping up with a cliff-hanger ending that resolves little or nothing. Jax uses powerful magic to physically stop some bullying kids who steal from a street vendor. The fiery death of phoenixes, and their rebirth from the ashes, is important to the story. An adult character smokes a pipe.
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What's the Story?
Nine-year-old Jax is trying to live up to his new job as THE WITCH'S APPRENTICE after the adventures of the first two Dragons in a Bag tales, but it's not easy. For one thing, ever since the baby dragons have been returned to the realm of magic, and the portals between our world and the magic realm sealed off, things just haven't been right. It's July, but the weather is like November. A strange disease is engulfing the world's elders, including Jax's cranky mentor Ma, and other magic folk have just disappeared. Jax's friends seem strangely changed by the magical beings they befriended in earlier installments. Also, he now finds himself caring for a baby phoenix. All may become clear at an upcoming witches' gathering in Chicago, and Jax can't wait to go, but where magic is involved, little goes according to plan and unexpected developments are just everyday reality. Behind the scenes, a cosmic conflict may be brewing, and Jax isn't sure where he fits in.
Is It Any Good?
A lot of intriguing themes, characters, and philosophical issues emerge in what seems to be a paradigm-shifting installment in Zetta Elliott's imaginative magic series. Sometimes the reader may feel as bombarded as 9-year-old Jax by random facts, people, and ideas that don't quite come together. Struggling with his emerging destiny as The Witch's Apprentice, Jax starts to wonder who and what he should be trusting, amid spectacle (e.g. a grand ball at the witches' convention), history (e.g. the Chicago World's Fair, the back-to-Africa movement, and Frederick Douglass's views on the subject), and a (former?) villain who's spinning a plausible tale of freedom, power, and access to magic. Cherise Harris's lively illustrations help bring it all to life, from the magic Underground Railroad to the baby phoenix and the grand ball. Very little gets resolved in what's essentially a cliffhanger prequel, launching the friends' adventures in a more complex world with more complex characters.
"I want to visit Africa someday. Mama took a DNA test and discovered our ancestors came from Nigeria and Cameroon. We don't know their names, but it would still be kind of cool to go across the ocean and learn more about those countries. Would I feel at home in Nigeria? I don't know. Would I fit in because I'm Black, or would I stand out because I'm American?
"Suddenly I think about Mo and wonder how the dragon Kavita stole is doing now that it's in the realm of magic. The little dragon must be glad to be reunited with its siblings, but maybe it misses Brooklyn, too. I'd miss the city if someone suddenly snatched me away."
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how The Witch's Apprentice and the hole the Dragons in a Bag series interweaves African mythology and culture with our everyday world -- and how it compares to other stories about beings from other worlds getting involved with us. What other stories do you know with this theme? How does it turn out?
Jax is outraged that the owner of an all-women boarding house for witches might not let him stay there because he's a boy. He can't believe this is legal in this day and age. What do you think?
If you suddenly found yourself responsible for the care of an mythological being like a dragon or a phoenix, what would you do? Would you be thrilled, terrified, or both?
Book Details
- Author: Zetta Elliott
- Illustrator: Cherise Harris
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Brothers and Sisters, Friendship, History
- Character Strengths: Courage
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
- Publication date: January 18, 2022
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 272
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: June 1, 2022
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