Review by Rox Burkey
Author Jeffery E Doherty adores storytelling with a vivid imagination perfect for children’s fantasy. Olivia Stone is an engaging character with all the determination of a 12-year-old on a mission. Helping Yip the grotesque that Olivia thought was a gargoyle is her mission against the trixies who are deceitful and evil. The trixies are deliciously evil with specific characteristics which make them plausible.
Olivia Stone learns she not only has magical powers, which she learns to control with the help of Yip. Olivia later overcomes her disability as she becomes stronger than she believed possible.
The story, designed for children is similar to fairytales where the scarey parts are vivid. Twists and turns keep it interesting, even with the possibility of injury or death. Olivia is driven to succeed and beat the trixies.
Mayah Clarke has an interesting acccent that suits this story. The pace throughout is a little fast for a childrens book. The narration came across as monetone for the first half of the book, but the second half Mayah provided additional emphasis for the dramantic effects of the story. Oddly, the music that separates the chapters didn’t work for me, but it might for others.
I recommend this for children that love imaginative stories, but I do suggest parents listen in advance if their children are under 12-years-old.
I make up stuff, I’m arty and I’m a bit of a nerd.
I love telling stories. One of those stories starts with “No, when I was in the Wiggles they already had a Jeff so I had to use my middle name…” Whole bunches of kids at the school where I work believe I was once Eddie the Evil Wiggle. Writing stories down for others to read and enjoy is one of the most special things anyone can hope to do.
Drawing and painting comes a close second. I have been an artist for a long time, but I have only recently started doing cover art and children’s book illustrations. You might think being an artist and illustrator is basically the same thing but it’s not. Illustrating, like writing is all about telling a story. I have been lucky enough to find a publisher who allowed me to create the illustrations and design the cover art for Paper Magic. Usually the writer gets very little say in a book’s artwork.
I love reading books, especially children’s books. I’m a Whovian, a Trekkie, I love Star Wars and any other science fiction or fantasy stuff. I dress-up any chance I get, sometimes as a medieval soldier, Scoobie Doo or Doctor Who (the Tom Baker one, mainly because I have a large, somewhat bent Tom Baker-ish nose). I tell really bad Dad jokes and I’m often an embarrassment to my children. I live in Bathurst with my Mad-Cat-Lady wife and seven and a half cats. Unfortunately, I have to spend a lot of time pretending to be grown-up so I won’t get sacked from my non-writing jobs, where I work with special needs children.
If you would like to know more about me, you can visit my website or the website for my book, Paper Magic.
