• Who's Reading What on Wednesdays?

27 Magic Words | September 14, 2016

by Sharelle Byars Moranville (Holiday House, July 2016)

Before her parents sailed out to sea five years ago, Kobi’s mother left her with 27 magical words left on Post-it notes. Now at age 10, Kobi has learned to harness their magic, and develop special powers around them. For example, “Avanti” gives her the ability to see the island where her parents are shipwrecked — or so she thinks. However, Kobi has no words to combat the new changes in her life, like moving from Paris to Des Moines, Iowa to live with her half-uncle Wimbledon, and starting fifth grade at a public school. The changes lead Kobi to rely on her magic words for help, until she discovers a different sort of magic: lying.

Luckily, 27 Magic Words is more than 27 words long, and manages to be magical from start to finish. Moranville’s sense of language is poetic yet simple; like the magic words in question, she is able to make the commonplace come alive. Kobi’s world is carefully-constructed and richly characterized. In particular, Moranville does a great job of making Paris and Iowa feel like totally different planets, emphasizing a sense of disconnection. Kobi’s coming to terms with her parents’ disappearance provides the book with a great dramatic arc that is both subtle and emotionally complex. Even when Kobi’s world feels a little less enchanted, my enchantment with 27 Magic Words only grew with every page. At the end, I was left with a magic word of my own: “reread!”

Learn more about this title