The Magician's Apprentice

When a stranger appears in young Baz’s village, the boy is eager to follow in his brothers’ footsteps by leaving with the man in order to learn a trade. He finds himself apprenticed to a weaver whose cruel treatment causes Baz to question his fate. When the weaver trades Baz to a traveling magician named Tadis, the boy’s education begins in earnest. There is no formal instruction; instead, Tadis expects Baz to learn through observation and cogitation. This can be frustrating, and at one point the boy implores, "Please don’t talk in riddles...I am too tired for that." Readers, too, may feel tested by the text’s obliqueness. More allegory or parable than story, the book meanders along as Baz seeks physical and psychic enlightenment. His journey brings him into contact with a handful of memorable characters (some of whom figure into the tale later in satisfying ways) who help break up the monotony of Baz’s trip and lighten his feelings of solitude. Sís’s spare, delicate spot illustrations beautifully reflect the text’s shifting mood, highlighting important moments, items, and events while helping paint pictures for readers of the mystical desert setting. Banks’s text is lyrical, imagistic, and thought-provoking; it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but middle-graders navigating their own metaphorical path toward illumination may take inspiration from Baz’s voyage. elissa gershowitz