City of Stolen Magic

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A thoroughly engaging & entertaining new fantasy series introduces us to the strong female lead in Chompa, a young girl growing up in colonial India with her mother. She’s able to do magic with her fingers but her mother is trying to get her to stop & use the art of written magic as finger magic always comes with a price, a lesson Chompa learns the hard way when her mother is taken by soldiers to London setting Chompa on a voyage to rescue her. What I did not like though were the Plot twists. I could see all of them coming and i just wanted the book to be less predictable. I also did not understand why in a middle grade book meant for children where the protagonist is 12 yrs old, had to see what happened to her mother. What happened with Mohsin also felt very out of character for him. First 2 parts are in Bengal then Dacca, India, then at sea, then London, England & a final part that I won't ruin. One night Chompa decides to disregard her mother's plight and almost sets the village on fire in the process. To combat the fire Chompa created, Ammi uses her OWN finger magic to stop the raging fire. Chompa NEVER knew her mother could also do magic like her.

City of Stolen Magic by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak | Goodreads City of Stolen Magic by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak | Goodreads

OCR to include Bernadine Evaristo, Nella Larsen and Sam Selvon on A Level and GCSE English Literature, following finding of Lit in Colour campaign. Children’s fantasy may be one of publishing’s fastest-growing genres, but stories from South Asia have remained in short supply. Nazneen Ahmed Pathak, a British-Bangladeshi writer chosen for Penguin’s mentoring scheme for under-represented writers, wants to redress that balance. As she has explained, she started writing her debut novel, City of Stolen Magic, 10 years ago after the birth of her son, because “there were no stories out there that represented his Indian and Bangladeshi heritage, the relationship between colonialism and migration, or South Asian traditions of magic.”As an English reader I thought Nazneen Ahmed Pathak did a brilliant job of exploring some uncomfortable truths. The book touches on the devastation caused by the British colonialism in India, and certainly doesn't shy away from showing the damage it caused, without being too upsetting for younger readers to read about. I loved how there was more than one kind of magic in the story, and each character had different skills and strengths and every one of them was important in how the action played out. The discussion of colonialism also felt a bit jumbled. I definitely think fantasy can be used to comment on really world issues, but something about the way the magic was incorporated in this case felt like it obscured the actual atrocities that the British committed in India – again, I can’t really verbalise why, but it just didn’t work for me. The author’s writing style is vivid, emphatic, and full of cultural significance. It creates the perfect atmosphere of adventure and magic, drawing you further into the story and its many layers. Loved this book! Chompa was such a likeable protagonist for me, and I was so engaged in this world and its ancient history of magic.

City of Stolen Magic (Paperback) - Waterstones City of Stolen Magic (Paperback) - Waterstones

This is a charming and delightful children's book , I loved howit was full of family and friendship, with such a beautiful mother daughter relationship. I also appreciated the emphasis on colonialism and the British Empire affect and injustices they imposed. So refreshing to read the truth and hopefully many more to follow More writers of colour are being added to the GCSE and A-level syllabus in England following pressure from students and campaigners. But how are these texts chosen, and what barriers remain to them being studied? This is how OCR and Pearson rose to the challenge. I thought this was a wonderful novel, and one of my highlights of the year so far. I would love a chance to see return to India with Chompa and her friends and see where their adventures take them next.A young girl with magical abilities that she has yet to fully discover and master, embarks on a journey to find her mother.