Fourteen-year-old Suli must stop the most powerful witch her country has ever seen.
If she fails, her country will starve, her animal friends could die, and wise women's magic will be lost forever.
The only healer and wise woman for her village, Suli is also a shape-shifter. She jumps at the chance to fly with the wild geese to the Arctic. During a rest break, she saves a young girl from being beaten, but then has to decide what do with her.
The leader of the wild geese advises her to return home quickly. A strange illness is spreading among all the animals in the countryside, and only a wise woman can tell if the cause is magical.
Perhaps it's related to the Prime Minister's campaign of rounding up wise women and imprisoning them, claiming their magic is really witchcraft. Arta, the young girl Suli rescued, insists on going with her, saying she'll be her apprentice, in spite of the danger.
As they journey to her village, Suli stumbles across the Prime Minister's plans to take over the country. If he's using powerful magic to control what people think, such misuse of magic could unbalance all the magic in the country, or drain it away entirely.
Animals are dying. Wise women's magic is disappearing. And Suli's teacher, Tala, has mysteriously disappeared. The animals beg Suli to help them, as wise women always have.
But even with the help of her crow teacher, a former witch, and her animal allies, can Suli stop the Prime Minister and restore magic to her land when her own magic is gone?
Praise for The Third Kind of Magic, Crow Magic Book One:
The two things I dreamed of doing as a child were to fly and to talk to animals. This marvelous children's book brought this reader back to that happiest of times when everything was possible and wishes could come true.
--Ginny Rorby, winner of the ALA Schneider Family Book Award
The Cursed Amulet continues Suli's adventures from The Third Kind of Magic but can be enjoyed without reading the first book.
Reviews for The Cursed Amulet:
This plot is beautifully complex as Elizabeth Forest weaves together several threads to form a stunning tale of danger and adventure. The relationship between Suli and Arta is at the heart of the story as the two strong-willed and stubborn girls challenge each other. They both have big hearts and a lot of power. The story as a mystery - a sickness affecting the animals has made them stop eating and has caused the young to die. The witch camps and the animal sickness both tie directly into the prince being chased with these threads forming a larger obstacle they must face in order to save animals, people, and magic. Each threat raises he stakes for the girls and they must work together if theyղe going to save everyone. Forest breathes life into this complex world of magic with a layered system of animal nations, wise women, and magic.
--Liz Konkel, Reader's Favorites, 5 stars
