A magical world that will captivate fans of Kate DiCamillo and Diana Wynne Jones.
Marah Levi is a promising violinist who excels at school and can read more languages than most librarians. Even so, she has little hope of a bright future: she is a sparker, a member of the oppressed lower class in a society run by magicians.
Then a mysterious disease hits the city of Ashara, turning its victims’ eyes dark before ultimately killing them. As Marah watches those whom she loves most fall ill, she finds an unlikely friend in Azariah, a wealthy magician boy. Together they pursue a cure in secret, but more people are dying every day, and time is running out. Then Marah and Azariah make a shocking discovery that turns inside-out everything they thought they knew about magic and about Ashara, their home.Â
Set in an imaginative world rich with language, lore, and music, this gripping adventure plunges the reader into the heart of a magical government where sparks of dissent may be even more deadly than the dark eyes.
Imagine you are living in the South 40 years ago, where the racial divide was key to everything - the kind of jobs available, the places to live, the medical care available...whites had the power, and blacks did not. Now take that divide, change the terms of the divide from color to magic, and you will have the basic premise behind 'Sparkers'.
Marah is a Sparker, a derogatory (and ironic) term for those who do not have magic. She goes to school, plays violin, and basically just lives life as she assumes she must. Then the illness comes - symptoms like the flu, but eyes turn black. It turns into a plague and no one, Sparker or otherwise, is safe. With an unexpected ally, Marah finds that her safe world is not as safe as she thought.
This is a quick read - it starts in immediately and just keeps going. While there is a definite lesson that can be learned, the book is just an enjoyable story by itself. My son is 13 and an avid reader - he may or may not think he is too old for this book - but it would be perfect for those through 7th grade. Full of twists and turns, magic and friendship, I would recommend this book for any library.
