Utterly fascinating. What Wrede did for Victorian England with her "Magic & Malice" duology, she does here for the Frontiers of the United States in the mid to late 1800's.

It was like reading Caddy Woodlawn and Laura Ingals Wilder, with more danger and magic. Focusing on Eff, the 13th child, and twin to a 7th son of a 7th son, it explores a slightly alternate frontier world than ours. Wrede takes care of the whole Pioneer/Indian thing by not having Indians at all. She makes the Frontier such a completely hostile place that people cannot live there without the aid of magicians and large communities to support each other.

This book follows Eff growing up from 4-18 and the challenges she faces as a 13th child AND the sibling of a Double7 son. Lots of small town/family politics, exploration of magical systems [Wrede wisely lets magic be non-boxed] and the minutiae of living in a hostile environment. Really looking forward to the rest of this series as it comes out.

Read All Book Reviews of "Thirteenth Child Frontier Magic Book"

Reviewed by Andrea for TeensReadToo.com

Eff was born the thirteenth child. She grew up hearing stories about how the "Thirteenth Child" is supposed to have great talent but bring great danger and despair to everyone around her.

Her twin, Lan, is the seventh son of a seventh son, or a double-seven, and is supposed to have great magical talent, in a good way, and luck that makes everyone in awe of him.

This story tells of their growing up, from Eff's point of view, and the challenges they face.

This story started off really well. I loved reading about Eff, Lan, and their magic. I liked reading about how they grew up and how much magic was involved in their lives. But then towards the end it started talking about these bugs that sucked up the magic, and that was the whole plot of the story at the end.

It kind of turned me off to the story, but overall it was well-written and something different in the YA fantasy world.

Read All Book Reviews of "Thirteenth Child Frontier Magic Book"