You Choose: Mayhem at Magic School

You Choose: Mayhem at Magic School by George Ivanoff, illustrated by James Hart (Random House Australia)

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 9780857983848

Also available as an ebook

ISBN 9780857985460

Reviewed by Marian McGuinness

Whereas Book 1 in this You Choose … series fired readers’ imaginations by plunging them into the world of pirates and buried treasure, Book 2, Mayhem at Magic School, takes readers on a rollercoaster of all things magic.

Prolific, inventive author George Ivanoff, continues to use his fast-paced, humorous and interactive style to entice readers seven years and older to dive into the magical adventure and decide their fate. Ivanoff knows what kids want and writes as if he’s one step ahead of them, teasing them this way and that.

From the opening sentence where a ball freezes in mid-air as you stare at it, you are the protagonist. You are in control of the situation and you have discovered that you have magical powers.

It’s an exciting scenario for any young reader. Suddenly, in class, a bunch of white rabbits appear. Did you make that happen? The other kids think so and call you a ‘freak!’

Along this 16-storyline path to magical adventure Ivanoff uses short, action-packed scenarios smattered with graphic novel style illustrations featuring you.

There are lots of questions at each story intersection. ‘Where will you go?’ ‘Where will you sleep?’ ‘How will you get food?’ And the biggie … ‘Who will you meet in the magical mansion?’ None other than Chang Lee, the great Master of Illusion who offers you the chance to be his apprentice and learn everything he knows …

OR

Choose the other path where you find out you belong to a long line of enchanters, which means, you’re off to Magic School.

With an enchanted scroll ‘equivalent to an iPad’ and a red ancestral jewel that creates magic even if you don’t want it to, there are heaps of hazards in store. It’s time for you to get lost … in the magic of the adventure.