Blog Tour Random Magic by Sasha Soren

This past month I was able to join a fun tour for the book Random Magic by Sasha Soren.  This tour was organized by Other Shelf Tours.  Make sure to stop by that site to see what other tours are coming up. For more stops on this tour be sure to click on the picture of the cover on the sidebar.

To start the review I'd like to set the stage by showing you the trailer for Random Magic.  I think this will give you a nice feel for the story.




From Goodreads (in case you didn't watch the trailer):
When absent-minded Professor Random misplaces the main character from Alice in Wonderland, young Henry Witherspoon must book-jump to fetch Alice before chaos theory kicks in and the world vanishes. Along the way he meets Winnie Flapjack, a wit-cracking doodle witch with nothing to her name but a magic feather and a plan. Such as it is. Henry and Winnie brave the Dark Queen, whatwolves, pirates, Struths, and fluttersmoths, Priscilla and Charybdis, obnoxiously cheerful vampires, Baron Samedi, a nine-dimensional cat, and one perpetually inebriated Muse to rescue Alice and save the world by tea time.


When I saw the summary for Random Magic I thought it sounded very creative and would be wildly entertaining.  I hadn't really heard of a book similar.  So when it arrived I settled in to read.  I will be completely honest, the first few chapters left me completely confused and about ready to quit.  They provide much of the back story for who lost Alice, who is being sent to rescue her and why, but they were written in a way that jumped around at a very fast pace.  I stuck with it wanting to give the book my best effort.  Once I got to the part where Henry goes into the book and meets Winnie I got into the swing of the story.  And boy did this story swing along from one crazy adventure to another! It never slowed which was great.  By the end I found it to be a fun story full of twist and turns and crazy characters.  And most importantly I cared about Henry and Winnie and wanted them to be happy.

My main concern with the story is its intended audience.  I teach 7th graders and there are very few students I have that I feel could read this story without the vocabulary and structure being above their heads.  Many of my students would never make it beyond those first few chapters because it would be too diffucult and confusing for them.  That being said, I will definately recommend it to the few students I have that I know will understand and ultimately enjoy the story. 

Because I'm a teacher, and I constantly talk theme with my students, here are some themes that Sasha Soren put into the book:

Magic is everywhere, even in daily life, just have to know where to look.
Always believe in yourself, even if no one else does.
Inside every woman, there is a queen
Brains can be more useful than brawn, in a lot of cases
Knowledge is power
Bravery isn’t a lack of fear, but a willingness to try even when you’re afraid
True beauty is much greater than skin deep
Loyalty, friendship and love are more valuable than gold
Magic is: Magic. But it’s also: The power to create art, music, and beauty.
There is spiritual beauty in physical objects, sometimes
Humans are mortal, but the things they create are immortal.
It’s foolhardy to underestimate the seemingly small and weak
Don’t believe everything you see
One person with courage is a majority
Never give up
Love is the most elusive but most powerful magic of all

Aren't those amazing themes for all of us to remember?