Millicent's Gift

Rating:
Summary: Millicents Gift
Review: I read Millicent's Gift. I thought it was a great book. I liked because it had some adventure and there was a lot of details so you could picture where they were. I think other kids ten or higher would love to read it too. I recommend this book it is a great book to read and other kids should read it too. It is the best book I ever read. Anyone who sees this should read it's think u would like it too. It's at the top my list for books. If you have interests in magic, cops, and courts, this would be a good book for you.

Rating:
Summary: A Powerful Novel for Readers Young and Old
Review: Thirteen-year-old Millicent MacCool knows that her fourteenth birthday will not be an ordinary day. Not like other fourteen-year-old's birthdays. No, not at all. You see, in Millicent's family, turning fourteen means receiving a magical Gift, and that magical Gift, is the ability to make one wish in life that will come true. Sure Millicent wants to grow-up, but she's not sure that she's ready for that kind of Power. As the day of her fourteen bithday draws closer and closer, Millicent is slowly realizing how dangerous having this one Gift can be, and how difficult the choices that she will face throughout her life will be, as well. Millicent is learning how to struggly with love, secrets, and betrayal, and in the end, Millicent will have to make the hardest decision that she will ever have to make. One that will change her life forever, as she knows it.

I was surprised to stumble across Ann Rinaldi's MILLICENT'S GIFT, while browsing through the bookstore the other day, as I am so accustomed to her writing historical fiction, and MILLICENT'S GIFT is nothing like that. Instead, it is a paranormal/magic book that is set in modern day times. However, I will applaud Ms. Rinaldi on her amazing work, as MILLICENT'S GIFT is a wonderful work of literature for both young and old. Millicent is an exciting character, whom is a wonderful friend, and a trustworthy daughter, niece, and sister. She is intelligent, determined, and spirited, and will be loved by readers the world over. A must have book.

Erika Sorocco

Rating:
Summary: Very Good!
Review: This book had a lot of adventure! It was WONDERFUL! I reccomend it to 9 or up!

Rating:
Summary: A novel of powerful characters
Review: Wow! This book may have a slow start, with a prologue and a wordy "cast of characters" before chapter one, but Millicent is a protagonist worth persevering for. And when I was done the book, I went back and read both sections with new eyes, and marvelled at how the narrator had grown.

Millicent MacCool is about to turn fourteen. She has been home-schooled and trained in magic by her aunts all her life. Now, she is about to attend a public high school at just about the same time she will be granted her Power, the ability to perform one Wish. Her family is large, and she compares each one of them to characters out of Celtic legend. Although she lives with her mother, Millicent's legal guardian is her brother Mac, eighteen years older, the town police chief, and a man haunted by his own past failures. The family dynamics are tangled and intense. An embittered older sister who squandered her Power wants to sell magic secrets; the mother hangs on to a sad secret, and Millicent's twin brother Dexter is angry because he has been denied the Power.

When Millicent is faced with a dilemma -- betraying her only friend -- or betraying her guardian brother Mac; she risks losing all her magic and her special Power to face what she fears most and be true to what she loves best.

Rinaldi's story is believable and moving. Love, family, and friendship are the themes. The MacCool family practices magic, but they are also Catholic, not witches. There is nothing here to offend, nothing dark, or disturbing. Millicent is an astounding character, as is Mac. This book is a departure from Rinaldi's usual historical fiction. It is one of her best.

Rating:
Summary: A novel of powerful characters
Review: Wow! This book may have a slow start, with a prologue and a wordy "cast of characters" before chapter one, but Millicent is a protagonist worth persevering for. And when I was done the book, I went back and read both sections with new eyes, and marvelled at how the narrator had grown.

Millicent MacCool is about to turn fourteen. She has been home-schooled and trained in magic by her aunts all her life. Now, she is about to attend a public high school at just about the same time she will be granted her Power, the ability to perform one Wish. Her family is large, and she compares each one of them to characters out of Celtic legend. Although she lives with her mother, Millicent's legal guardian is her brother Mac, eighteen years older, the town police chief, and a man haunted by his own past failures. The family dynamics are tangled and intense. An embittered older sister who squandered her Power wants to sell magic secrets; the mother hangs on to a sad secret, and Millicent's twin brother Dexter is angry because he has been denied the Power.

When Millicent is faced with a dilemma -- betraying her only friend -- or betraying her guardian brother Mac; she risks losing all her magic and her special Power to face what she fears most and be true to what she loves best.

Rinaldi's story is believable and moving. Love, family, and friendship are the themes. The MacCool family practices magic, but they are also Catholic, not witches. There is nothing here to offend, nothing dark, or disturbing. Millicent is an astounding character, as is Mac. This book is a departure from Rinaldi's usual historical fiction. It is one of her best.