Josh and Sophie had just moved to San Francisco and work in a bookstore and coffee shop right across from one another. The story The Alchemyst by Michael Scott begins when the bookstore receives a very strange customer, John, with a strange entourage, mud people. The bookstore owner is Nicholas Flamel, the guardian of the Book of Abram. He and his wife have been in hiding for many centuries to keep the book from getting into the wrong hands a.k.a. John’s, but this day, John finally succeeds in capturing the book, except for the last two pages which Josh grabbed, and Nick’s wife. The book contains many secrets, such as the secret to immortality. It also contains a prophecy, and it is suspected that the twins are key to that prophecy.

Josh and Sophie find their lives turned upside down as they try to evade those who want to get the pages and now also want them for their unique powers. Nick is with them focused on saving his wife and getting the book back. Sophie’s powers were awakened but the group was interrupted before Josh could be awakened too. She becomes more powerful than him, for the time being, and Josh thinks he is going to lose her. He is also incredibly envious. A fact that the other side utilizes to try to get him to join them. Will he be awakened too? Will the twins be turned against one another? Will the prophecy be fulfilled? Will the world cease to exist the way we know it?

I did not want to put this book down, at least through the first half. When I realized that it was going to be a series focused on a stupid jealous boy, I was bummed. It had a promising storyline, until the author made it clear by announcing it every other page (I exaggerate a bit) that the twin brother was starting to distance himself. I mean the first 100 pages got the idea across that the twins’ were everything to each other… only to be ruined when Sophie’s powers were awakened first. It seems to me if the only other person in your life that you care about either has to be superwoman or go crazy, I would support the former. The other thing I didn’t like was the use of their “mentor” and his not being completely honest with them. Kids or not if it will help them live their lives better they should be told.

Maybe teens will be able to better empathize with Josh’s struggle and enjoy the adventure story. The poor family relationships would not be what I wanted my kids to learn from though. Children could probably also read this story; it has easy vocab and short sentence structure but is a rather long book. Despite being completely revolted by the superficial sibling love protrayed in the latter portion of the book, I still find myself curious to find out what happens next. The series isn’t done yet, so we will have to wait and see.

Kate

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
(c) 2007, Random House
Publisher Reading Level: Young Adult
ISBN: 978-0-385-73357-1
369 Pages