Conjure Island
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
From the award-winning author of Root Magic comes the story of a girl forced to spend the summer with a great-grandmother she’s never met—only to discover she runs a school for Southern conjure magic.
If you ask Delphinia Baker, she’d tell you she has all the family she needs. Sure, her mom passed away when she was young, her dad is often away on deployment, but even though Del has never had anyone she can call her people, she has always had her grandmother—and that’s enough. Besides, having no roots just makes it that much easier when you have to move again.
All of that changes, though, when Gramma falls ill and Del is sent to stay with her great-grandmother. Del has never even heard of Nana Rose, and she has no interest in spending the summer on an unbearably hot island off the South Carolina coast. And when Nana Rose starts talking about the school she runs dedicated to their family’s traditions—something called “conjure magic”—Del knows she’s in for a weird, awkward summer.
That is, until the magic turns out to be real.
Soon, Del is surrounded by teachers who call themselves witches, kids with strange abilities, creatures and ghosts who can speak to her. She has a hundred questions, but one more than any other: Why didn’t Gramma ever tell her about her family, the island, this magic? As Del sets out to find her place in a world she never knew existed, she also discovers a shadowy presence on the island—and comes to believe that it all might be connected.
Finding Your Roots: For a girl who has never had a true home, Del is about to discover a family legacy of powerful magic she never knew existed on a hidden South Carolina island.Black Girl Magic: Join a smart, resilient hero as she uncovers the strength of her ancestors and finds her own power in a world of witches, ghosts, and Lowcountry folklore.Unlikely Friendship: Amidst the magical lessons and unfolding mysteries, a powerful new friendship helps Del navigate her strange new world and uncover its secrets.A Heartfelt Mystery: Del has a hundred questions, but the biggest is the one she can’t ask: why did her own grandmother hide this incredible world from her?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Black tween discovers she has magical ancestry after meeting a distant relative in this beguiling family mystery by Royce (Root Magic). Because of her father's military career, 11-year-old Delphinia Baker is used to moving every year or so. Though she's never really had a chance to settle anywhere, Del insists that she's fine as long as she has maternal grandmother Gramma ("I don't need friends... I have you," Del says). But when Gramma has a health scare, Del is sent to South Carolina to spend the summer with Gramma's mother Nana Rose, her estranged great-grandmother, whom Del has never met. Nana Rose is nothing like Del expects: she travels on the back of an alligator and runs Vesey Conservatory, a school that teaches conjure magic based in Gullah traditions. While Del is skeptical of magic's existence at first, when faced with ghost butlers, enchantment-casting teachers, and sentient brooms, her disbelief is replaced by two big questions: Why did Gramma never mention this place, and why did she leave it all those years ago? Royce employs Del's observant first-person narration to seamlessly weave together an engaging tale of magic, friendship, and family steeped in Black Southern culture that highlights the importance of knowing one's history. Ages 8–12.
