KELCIE MURPHY AND THE ACADEMY FOR THE UNBREAKABLE ARTS

Magical fighting abilities are a must when facing the forces of the Lands of Winter.

Kelcie Murphy’s field trip to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts is permanently over when her foster care case worker and a police officer suddenly appear and drag her off to the bowels of the museum. Things go from odd to magically creepy when the pair are revealed to be fairies who attempt a mysterious ritual, which leads Kelcie far away to the Lands of Summer. There, she stumbles across the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts, a school that recruits the best of the best to battle fairies and other baddies from the Lands of Winter. Fantasy fans will find a lot of similarities between the academy and another famous magical school, from students’ being assigned to color-coded Dens to the mysterious and aloof head. This novel may appeal to some readers, especially those with a love of mythology and folklore, but overall, it feels clichéd. The setting along with the dense text, large cast of characters, and an emphasis on bullying and violence at the school combine to create a banal rendition of Harry Potter as told through the lens of a Celtic-themed Hunger Games. Pale, freckled, redheaded Kelcie is White.

The magic of Katniss McPotter, er...Kelcie Murphy falls flat.