Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Book of Wonders
    Unavailable
    The Book of Wonders
    Unavailable
    The Book of Wonders
    Ebook302 pages3 hours

    The Book of Wonders

    By Jasmine Richards

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Sorcerers, Cyclops, Djinnis . . . Magic.

    Thirteen-year-old Zardi loves to hear stories about fantastical beings long banned from the kingdom of Arribitha. But anyone who is caught whispering of their powers will feel the rage of the sultan—a terrifying tyrant who, even with his eyes closed, can see all.

    When her own beloved sister is captured by the evil ruler, Zardi knows that she must risk everything to rescue her. Along with Rhidan, who is her best friend, and an unlikely crew of sailors led by the infamous Captain Sinbad, Zardi ventures forth into strange and wondrous territory with a seemingly impossible mission: to bring magic back to Arribitha and defeat the sultan once and for all.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJan 17, 2012
    ISBN9780062099181
    Unavailable
    The Book of Wonders
    Author

    Jasmine Richards

    Jasmine Richards was born in London, grew up in a library, and was the first in her family to go to university. After graduating from Oxford she had a brief stint at New Scotland Yard, then chose a career in publishing over being the next Sherlock Holmes. Today Jasmine is a senior editor at a leading British publishing house and lives in the Cotswolds (rather near the Tangley Woods) with her husband and two children. She is the author of Keeper of Myths, Secrets of Valhalla, and The Book of Wonders, of which School Library Journal said, “Swiftly paced writing, appealing characters, and action packed; will appeal to fans of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books.” You can visit Jasmine online at www.jasminerichards.com.

    Related to The Book of Wonders

    Related ebooks

    Children's Legends, Myths & Fables For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Forfeit

      Jan 1, 2021

      Forfeit
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Letter Box

      Nov 1, 2022

      Hello, Everybuggy, I’m a first-time writer to the Letterbox, but I’ve been reading Cricket for about two years now. I am absolutely obsessed with books, and my favorite series are Keeper of the Lost Cities, Wings of Fire, Michael Vey, The Lunar Chron

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Wishing Tree Of The Blue Dragon Temple

      Nov 1, 2020

      The Wishing Tree Of The Blue Dragon Temple
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Snow Woman’s Daughter

      Nov 1, 2020

      The Snow Woman’s Daughter
      9 min read

    • Article

      Wolf Sister

      May 7, 2020

      Wolf Sister
      10 min read

    • Article

      Ready, Rosie?

      Jul 1, 2020

      “HEY! DON’T TELL me you’re scared!” Sasha smirked at Rosie, then leaned into her horse’s cheek and circled his head with her arms, as if he were nothing but a big stuffed animal. “I’m not.” The lie didn’t sound as definite as Rosie wished it did. She

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Traveler

      Nov 1, 2020

      The Traveler
      9 min read

    • Article

      SONG For The SAILING MOON

      Mar 1, 2023

      SONG For The SAILING MOON
      1 min read

    • Article

      Something For Nothing

      Mar 1, 2020

      Something For Nothing
      4 min read

    • Article

      Mr Luck and Mrs Pluck

      May 8, 2019

      Mr Luck and Mrs Pluck
      2 min read

    • Article

      “Wicked Fox” Is An Engrossing – If Convoluted – YA Fantasy

      Aug 22, 2019

      Kat Cho’s debut novel “Wicked Fox” is a little complicated, but the poignantly rendered family relationships and fantasy drama are worth the ride.

      3 min read

    • Article

      View And Manage Your IPhone Widgets

      Aug 15, 2019

      Although it’s fair to say that many of us overlook widgets, they can be very useful. By grabbing snippets of information from apps and services or allowing easy access to a specific feature, they’re invariably productive or fun. Apple thinks so, whic

      1 min read

    • Article

      Ghoulies and Ghosties

      Oct 1, 2022

      Ghoulies and Ghosties
      7 min read

    • Article

      King Tut Tours His Tomb

      Feb 1, 2023

      King Tut Tours His Tomb
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Book Eaters

      Aug 10, 2022

      The Book Eaters
      1 min read

    • Article

      Andromeda’s New Brain Part 1

      Jul 1, 2022

      Andromeda’s New Brain Part 1
      5 min read

    • Article

      Caitlin Colleary

      Nov 1, 2021

      Caitlin Colleary
      3 min read

    • Article

      Silly Things

      Feb 1, 2022

      Silly Things
      2 min read

    • Article

      Little Spiders Trick-or-Treat

      Oct 1, 2021

      Little Spiders Trick-or-Treat
      1 min read

    • Article

      Illusion

      May 22, 2019

      Illusion
      2 min read

    • Article

      In Search Of . . .

      Jan 1, 2019

      In Search Of . . .
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Long Night

      Oct 1, 2022

      The Long Night
      7 min read

    • Article

      THE OUTLAWS SCARLETT & BROWNE

      Mar 24, 2021

      400 pages | Paperback/ebook ▶ Author Jonathan Stroud ▶ Publisher Walker Books What a fun little adventure this is – although that’s hardly a surprise, given that it’s penned by the author of the Bartimaeus and Lockwood & Co series (the latter current

      1 min read

    • Article

      The DOCK BOY of RAINY LAKE

      Jul 1, 2019

      The DOCK BOY of RAINY LAKE
      6 min read

    • Article

      Whom He May Devour: Saving her planet would ban her from paradise.

      Jan 7, 2016

      Lydia watched Ahad play the guitar. He leaned against a boulder, eyes shut, his face positioned to catch the last warm rays of the setting sun. His long, slender fingers caressed the strings, producing a slow, haunting melody. The music almost made h

      17 min read

    • Article

      The Halloween Parade Problem

      Oct 1, 2023

      The Halloween Parade Problem
      2 min read

    • Article

      Katie And Gulliver

      Jul 1, 2019

      Katie And Gulliver
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Wind Feels Loss

      Aug 8, 2019

      The Wind Feels Loss
      7 min read

    • Article

      Swan Lake

      Sep 4, 2019

      Swan Lake
      4 min read

    • Article

      BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU FISH FOR (You Might Get It)

      Jan 1, 2020

      Cautiously, Prince Bernard lifted his saddle from the wall. Just a buckle’s jingle or the straw crackling beneath his boots might give him away. “Good afternoon, Your Highness. Are you taking Bright Star for a ride?” Would he never escape? Suppressin

      4 min read

    Reviews for The Book of Wonders

    4/5

    20 ratings4 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      I'm a fan of (much of) the Arabian Nights, and was delighted to run across this middle grade novel, which repurposes elements from the tales -- Sinbad, djinnis, the roc, mistaken identities, wishes governed by complicated rules -- but without the racism and misogyny that permeates the original tales. So far, so good. But, the book's writing leaves much to be desired. Rather than the characters' personalities driving the plot, the plot (and author's need to work in exposition) drives the characterization completely - in a given scene, the heroine goes from disgusted at the thought of the evil sultan, to grumbling about having to help with dinner, to tearing up at how infrequently she sees her father, to 'happy but guilty' when her grandmother praises her skills with a kitchen knife. That's in roughly two pages. It's like watching a train pass by: here's a boxcar, oh look, now a tanker, now two more box cars, a hopper, and so on - with no obvious reason for the order of the cars, and only a rough coupling between each of them.In looking at other reviews, I see that this is labelled 'middle grade' rather than 'young adult'. I guess that's younger than young adult, and I can why an author would tailor the plot and characters for the audience. But surely these readers can handle - and would thrive - on better characterization than this.
    • 4/5
      Zardi, short for Scheherazade, loves hearing stories about the times when magic was plentiful and abundant in the land of Arribitha. But those times are gone, ever since the evil sultan, Shahryar, came to power and forbade anyone from even talking about magic. When her sister, Zubeyda, is taken to be the sultan's next praisemaker - a job that always results in the girl's death - and her father is imprisoned, Zardi and her friend Rhidan must seek out Sinbad, and hope that the sailor's tales of lands faraway are true. Together they're all thrust into an adventure that none of them saw coming.This was a really fun book that used the tales of One Thousand and One Nights in a very interesting way. Zardi was a downright fantastic female lead: she's tough, stubborn, and unwilling to give up. Her friendship with Rhidan is first rate, too, and I liked the way they complemented each other. While I'm familiar in passing with the story of Sinbad, this was an interesting look at his character, and definitely tarnishes the legend just a bit. Zardi is unrelenting in her search to save Zubeyda, and is willing to face danger after danger in order to ensure her sister's life. While the adventures were fun (and dangerous!), it was her spirit that really made me love this book. She was just a really perfect narrator.I will say that this book took me far longer to read than it should have, because I stopped midway through to read a whole bunch of other things instead. This is not a knock on the book - I was thoroughly enjoying it - but it does suffer a bit from what I call the "non-stop action" affliction. Zardi and the others certainly have to go through a lot.Also, a word of caution, this is very clearly the start of a new series, which doesn't become apparent until almost the very end. While one story line is wrapped up, there are tons of other things that have yet to be figured out. The book doesn't really end on a cliffhanger, though, so much as it's very open-ended. I look forward to seeing what Zardi and Rhidan get up to next.
    • 3/5
      Guys, if you’re a fan of fantasy and adventure and pirates and sailboats and magic and heroic female main characters, definitely check out The Book of Wonders.I mean, here is this 13-year-old girl doing stuff that I’m not even sure I could do. She’s brave and loyal and fierce. I absolutely loved being with her through her adventures.Seriously – even though it’s middle grade, Zardi felt so much older and more mature than that. Definitely give The Book of Wonders a shot if it sounds like something you’re interested in!My full review will come closer to publication date.
    • 3/5
      I'm never quite sure how I'm going to feel about a Middle Grade book. Clearly, I love YA, but Middle Grades are hit or miss for me. I get nervous when Middle Grade is paired with other aspects that make me second guess whether I'll like a book, such as being high fantasy or longer than I expected (again, hit or miss mentality). I need not have worried. The Book of Wonders by Jasmine Richards is a solid hit.As soon as I started the first chapter, I was eager to continue. There is an ease of storytelling present that makes the whole book flow seamlessly. Readers young and old will enjoy the epic adventure, energetic characters, smooth writing, and wonderful storytelling. This high fantasy tale is full of action. The main character, Zardi, loves stories of adventure with scary monsters and incredible feats of heroism. The Book of Wonders has all this, much to Zardi's delight and horror (it's a little different to face the scary monsters yourself than to hear about them from others).Also, it was a fairly complex story. There were multiple story lines and paths the characters could have taken, but everything came together very well. Little side missions were carried out without losing sight of the overall goal, to save Zardi's sister.In addition to the fantasy, this book was multicultural. I always love reading books set in different cultures, so this fact was a bonus for me. Richards merged multicultural aspects with the fantasy very well. These merged aspects completely transported me to Arribitha while I was reading. Well done.Overall rating: Worth the buy. Borrow it if you're not as into Middle Grade.