A Tale of Witchwood Park
Witchwood Park
Book 1
S.W. Develin
Genre: Young reader/Fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-9886294-1-7
ASIN: B00J44ZO54
Number of pages: 61
Word Count: 15465
Cover Artist: Damonza
Book Description:
"I am older than you can comprehend. I am eight." - Emily Spellmaker.
Emily Spellmaker is missing. She didn't return to Witchwood Park Elementary this year and Kendra, the shy little girl she befriended, is heartbroken. Kendra waits alone on the park bench after school each day until the Tuesday a troll walks out of the woods. He chooses Kendra, Jimmy (the school bully), and Daniel (an outcast) to come on a magical journey where they must overcome an evil queen and her Army of the Faceless to free an enslaved land. In the process they learn who they really are and what friendship means, while getting closer to solving the mystery of Emily Spellmaker.
Excerpt:
They were falling.
"What's happening?!" Jimmy shouted. "Where's Daniel?"
Jimmy and Kendra had jumped through a hole in the top of the sky. There was no water to swim in and no ground beneath it. They were simply falling, from hundreds of feet above the kingdom.
Kendra looked around. Daniel was nowhere to be found.
"I don't know!" she shouted.
Jimmy and Kendra reached desperately for each other. They clasped hands and watched as they fell toward certain doom.
They could see the whole of the kingdom below. There was the central mountain Tree Stump had told them about, with the False Queen's giant castle atop. A river ran from the north of the kingdom, around the mountain on both sides like it was an island, and into an endless, shining sea in the south. To the northwest were rock-strewn plains with volcanoes and rivers of lava. To the southwest was a welcoming and vast, lush forest. And to the east…was nothing but an impenetrable wall of grey clouds.
They were falling straight for the castle.
As they fell the ground became clearer and clearer. The False Queen's soldiers were coming out of the castle barracks. Two red shapes began to rise into the sky beneath them.
"Dragons!" Jimmy screamed.
Jimmy was right. There were two, giant red dragons flying toward them.
"Maybe they are good dragons?" Kendra asked.
In response, the closest dragon shot a burst of yellow flame past Jimmy. The next shot wasn't going to miss. Kendra and Jimmy held each other and waited to be fried. Then a terrifying roar like nothing they had ever heard shattered the air. It must have filled the entire kingdom below. The red dragons heard it, but the sudden fear on their evil, snarling faces was coming from something they could see…
Jimmy and Kendra looked up.
A massive, black dragon, larger than the two red dragons combined, was flying directly above them. It opened its jaws and launched green dragon fire down at them. The stream of blazing hot flame rushed past them and hit its true targets, the red dragons. When the flame cleared, the red dragons were plummeting back to the ground.
The black dragon grabbed Jimmy and Kendra, one in each of its back claws, then turned and flew away from the army below. Kendra wanted to see if they had faces, but that was the least of her worries right then. In a matter of minutes they were low above the trees of the giant forest. The dragon dropped them both into the treetops.
Jimmy and Kendra crashed through the branches and onto wooden platforms built high in the trees. They were shaken, but alive and together. Through the trees they watched the shadow of the great dragon disappear over the mountains in the north.
My Review:
I received a free copy of the book from the author for my honest opinion.
Kendra is a very shy little girl who attends Witchwood Park Elementary. Kendra doesn't have many friends and usually stays to herself but she does have one friend Emily Spellmaker but Kendra is heartbroken when Emily doesn't show up for the new school year. Kendra has lost her only friend. But things do start to look up for Kendra when a troll, Tree Stump comes out of Witchwood Park woods to enlist Kendra, Daniel and Jimmy's help to fight the evil queen of Witchwood Park woods. Daniel and Jimmy are like Kendra as they are misfits too. But they all join up with Tree Stump and help him to fight the evil queen and help to free the enslaved creatures that live in the woods.
Kendra, Daniel and Jimmy are all afraid to go up against the evil queen and her army but they put aside all their fears to help each other and all of the creatures that live in the woods. They become fast friends and learn what it is like to have someone who cares about them. They learn to work together as a team and that not everybody is against them. They learn to look deep inside to find who they really are. They overcome their disabilities to help others.
A Tale of Witchwood Park s a great book for children who love to read especially if they have an imagination and would love to go on a magical journey with Kendra, Daniel and Jimmy to help them find Kendra's friend Emily. Will they find Emily? Is Emily lost in the woods beside the Witchwood Park School?
I have enjoyed going on a magical journey with Kendra, Daniel, Jimmy and Tree Stump and look forward to more magical journeys with the characters from A Tale of Witchwood Park.
About The Author:
S.W. Develin lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania with his wife, Julie, and their three children: Brigid, Jack and Garrett. He has a dog named Pink, a cat named Floyd, and a small kitten disguised as a cow.
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