Grade 6-9-Four children from different walks of life come to Winding Circle, a temple community where for different reasons they are sent to Discipline, a smaller cottage in which they gradually come to know and trust one another and, more importantly, to know themselves and discover their own magical abilities. Niko teaches them to control their impulses and focus their minds. When the four are trapped in a collapsing cave during an earthquake, they must combine their magic and the concentration Niko taught them to escape. This first book (Scholastic, 1997) of Tamora Pierce's popular Circle of Magic fantasy quartet features The Words Take Wings repertory group reading the dialogue and the author reading the narrative portions of the text. Dramatizing the dialogue makes the story more lively and immediate and will captivate listeners. However, the blend of narration and dramatized dialogue is not always smooth, and often the timing of the transition from actor to narrator seems slightly awkward. Most of the actors do a good job of creating distinct personalities for their characters, but they vary in skill. While Cynthia Bishop as Lark is excellent and her voice is very expressive, the actors playing the children are not as skilled. Pierce's voice lacks expression as the narrator. She is much better in the author interview at the end of the production which adds insight into her work. Technical quality of the production is excellent. While there are no sound effects or background noises to intrude, brief snatches of appropriate music mark plot shifts, a necessity here since the story shifts among the four children. This recording should prove popular where children are reading Pierce's books. Louise L. Sherman, formerly Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
An exceptional match between voices and the character descriptions. -- Audiofile Magazine, October/November 2002
This enthralling production will be enjoyed by both children and adults. -- The Shy Librarian, Spring 2003
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7. Sandry wants desperately to learn to spin and weave despite her noble birth; she finds that she can spin light into her threads. Tris comes from a family of merchants but has an uncanny feel for weather and hears voices on the winds. Briar, a former street urchin and thief, communicates with plants. Daja is a Trader, but metalworking calls her now. Sandry's Book focuses equally on these four children, all abandoned or orphaned and all equally unaware of being mageborn?gifted with a particular talent and magical abilities. The four meet at Discipline Cottage, part of Winding Circle Temple, where the powerful mage Niko has brought them to heal the wounds of their past and to learn to channel and control their abilities. Although the four have some conflicts with their new surroundings and with one another, they are united when misuse of magic at another temple puts everyone in mortal danger. A bit unfocused, the story features too many main characters with individual stories to tell and borrows too much from our own world to be surprising. The youngsters are appealing and the conflicts between them are logical and believable. However, while Daja's affinity for metals and Briar's for plants are well defined, it is harder to tell how Sandry will use her magical talent, or what Tris's abilities have to do with the crafts that are predominant throughout the book. In spite of its faults, this is an enjoyable fantasy for middle-grade readers, who will look forward to the next book in the series.?Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9-Four children from different walks of life come to Winding Circle, a temple community where for different reasons they are sent to Discipline, a smaller cottage in which they gradually come to know and trust one another and, more importantly, to know themselves and discover their own magical abilities. Niko teaches them to control their impulses and focus their minds. When the four are trapped in a collapsing cave during an earthquake, they must combine their magic and the concentration Niko taught them to escape. This first book (Scholastic, 1997) of Tamora Pierce's popular Circle of Magic fantasy quartet features The Words Take Wings repertory group reading the dialogue and the author reading the narrative portions of the text. Dramatizing the dialogue makes the story more lively and immediate and will captivate listeners. However, the blend of narration and dramatized dialogue is not always smooth, and often the timing of the transition from actor to narrator seems slightly awkward. Most of the actors do a good job of creating distinct personalities for their characters, but they vary in skill. While Cynthia Bishop as Lark is excellent and her voice is very expressive, the actors playing the children are not as skilled. Pierce's voice lacks expression as the narrator. She is much better in the author interview at the end of the production which adds insight into her work. Technical quality of the production is excellent. While there are no sound effects or background noises to intrude, brief snatches of appropriate music mark plot shifts, a necessity here since the story shifts among the four children. This recording should prove popular where children are reading Pierce's books.
Louise L. Sherman, formerly Anna C. Scott School, Leonia,
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
An exceptional match between voices and the character descriptions. -- Audiofile Magazine, October/November 2002
This enthralling production will be enjoyed by both children and adults. -- The Shy Librarian, Spring 2003
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7. Sandry wants desperately to learn to spin and weave despite her noble birth; she finds that she can spin light into her threads. Tris comes from a family of merchants but has an uncanny feel for weather and hears voices on the winds. Briar, a former street urchin and thief, communicates with plants. Daja is a Trader, but metalworking calls her now. Sandry's Book focuses equally on these four children, all abandoned or orphaned and all equally unaware of being mageborn?gifted with a particular talent and magical abilities. The four meet at Discipline Cottage, part of Winding Circle Temple, where the powerful mage Niko has brought them to heal the wounds of their past and to learn to channel and control their abilities. Although the four have some conflicts with their new surroundings and with one another, they are united when misuse of magic at another temple puts everyone in mortal danger. A bit unfocused, the story features too many main characters with individual stories to tell and borrows too much from our own world to be surprising. The youngsters are appealing and the conflicts between them are logical and believable. However, while Daja's affinity for metals and Briar's for plants are well defined, it is harder to tell how Sandry will use her magical talent, or what Tris's abilities have to do with the crafts that are predominant throughout the book. In spite of its faults, this is an enjoyable fantasy for middle-grade readers, who will look forward to the next book in the series.?Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy,
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
In a fantasy set in mythical lands surrounding the Pebbled Sea, four young people come to terms with the pain that life has dealt them, the prejudices they've inherited, and the unrecognized magical powers they were born with. The four come from varying backgrounds, but all have been misfits rankling against the restrictions that class and culture impose. Sandry (Lady Sandrilene fa Toren) feels
Good f'r naught but to be waited on and to marry.'' She longs to be useful and competent. Daja, the Trader girl, wants to be a metalworker, but making things is forbidden to traders. Briar, a streetwise thief, harbors a special affinity for plants, and Trisana, the Merchant girl, seems to have a direct line to the forces of nature itself. Mage Niklaren Goldeye brings all four to a disciplined temple community where their special gifts can flower. Pierce (Wild Magic, 1992, etc.) employs the trappings of magic, yet never invokes it as a convenient plot device imposed from without. Instead it appears as an inner strength that each of the fully realized, compelling young protagonists must discover and harness. Meditation and the Zen-like practice of hands-on crafts are their tools of mastery. First in a series, this is a rich and satisfying read. (Fiction. 11-13) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.