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|title=Jinx, the Wizard's Apprentice

|author=Sage Blackwood

|publisher=Quercus

|date=June 2013

|website=

|video=gMgosSttKxA

|summary=Going to work for the rather scary wizard Simon Magus seems a better bet to young Jinx than staying at home—which just goes to show how horrid stepparents can be. But is Simon kindly and generous, or cruel and wicked?

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Everybody knows you don't stray off the path when you're deep in the woods. And everybody knows, too, that stepparents usually want you out of the way — permanently. So poor Jinx has no difficulty in understanding, even at the tender age of six, that things are not going well for him. Rescued by a wizard, he spends much of the next few years quietly helping out round the house. It's not a bad life: Simon Magus is gruff to the point of rudeness, but the house is warm and the food is tasty and plentiful.

There are lots of good things to enjoy in this book. Magic and adventure are in plentiful supply, along with thoroughly nasty creatures which regularly try to turn the heroes into lunch. It's dramatic, scary and funny (sometimes all at the same time) and readers will find they easily identify with Jinx and his companions. And best of all, it's the start of a series, so you can be sure of more thrills and laughs in the future.

{{amazontext|amazon=178087247X}}

{{toptentext|list=Top Ten Books for Confident Readers 2013}}

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