Young Adult Book Fun

Title: The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimeus Trilogy, Book 1)

Author: Jonathon Stroud

Publication: Disney-Hyperion (September 29, 2003)

ISBN: 978-0786818594

Grade Level: 7-12

Awards: 2004 Printz Award Honor Book

Summary: 11-year-old Nathaniel is bent on revenge. It’s a good thing he’s an apprentice wizard. It is not such a good thing that he has summoned Bartimeus to be his demon servant, because Bartimeus doesn’t take kindly to pale boys who send him on suicide missions- like stealing the Amulet of Samarkand from one of the most powerful wizards in London.

Comments: Stroud lets the djinni (pronounced jee-nee [I think]) out of the bottle and lets them loose in a modern day London where the government is run by wizards. These wizards are made not born, which is how we meet young Nathaniel, who has been given over to the wizardry office (my own term) in exchange for a large sum.

With a completely unsentimental take on childhood and upbringing the reader is comes to care for Nathaniel while not necessarily liking him, while at the same time learning to like Bartimeus, a demon trickster, without actually caring for him.

A new kind of fantasy novel, The Amulet of Samarkand, is both classical tale and pop-fiction brain candy with both lyrical storytelling and snappy, slang-filled dialogue giving it an appeal that begins in the younger years but sustains itself through high school.

Unfortunately the length and level of writing will make it unsuitable for struggling and reluctant readers of all ages.

Georgia Performance Standards:

ELA7RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

ELA8RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

ELA9RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

Extensions:

• Have students locate the real written histories of Ptolemy, Atlantis, and Cleopatra and compare them to the explanations detailed in the book.
• Have students write a prologue that details the rise of the wizard’s control over the imps and djinnis.
• Have students discuss the reasons why a book such as this would be banned.