Paperback: 242 pages Publisher: Scientia Est Vox Press (June 19, 2009) Language: English ISBN-10: 0578023539 ISBN-13: 978-0578023533	Order from here:

This is a story about Jamie Diggs. Jamie is your ordinary boy. His family has just moved from Kansas to Indiana. One day his father pulls out a trunk that belonged to Jamie’s Great Grandfather. The great grandfather was the original Wizard of Oz. The trunk contains various items for performing magic. Jamie and his father James join a local magicians club to learn about the items in the trunk, and to explore their magical abilities. Jamie’s ability to learn magic soon leads him to the Land of Oz. There he meets many of the characters we grew up with, Glinda, Dorothy, Ozma, and the Tin Woodman. His magical abilities play an integral part in his adventures in Oz.

While reading this, I happened to see a lot of the comments on Amazon. Some were less than flattering. I think that was a bit unfair. I thought this book was fun. Was it a great, epic fantasy. No. But I don’t think it was meant to be. Oz was never meant for adults, but for children, and the child in all of us. I think you must let go and grab hold of your childhood at times. If you read this looking for The Hobbit or Harry Potter, I’m sure you’ll be disappointed. However, for 6-9 year olds, who were the original Baum audience, I think they’ll enjoy it. The author managed to capture a lot of th wonder, and feel of the land. Now given, I haven’t read all 40 of the original Oz books, so there may have been times where the author took liberties. However, from what I’ve read, there were times that Mr. Baum himself wasn’t always consistent in what was/wasn’t going on in the land of Oz. It is a fantasy world, remember, not a world based on the rules/laws of physics that we go by.

Given a rating, I’d say this is pretty suitable for all ages. Old readers/teens might not get into it, but younger children should. Some scenes may seem intense (Like the flying monkeys were), so you might want to be aware of that. If you have young children, or would just like to travel back to Oz once again, I’d say pick up a copy of Mr. Wallace’s book. This is the first in a proposed trilogy, and I for one would like to see what happens next.

Be sure and see our interview of Mr. Wallace here.

*Disclaimer* A special thanks goes out to Brandi at BK Walker Books and James C. Wallace II for an e-book copy of this for review.  It in no way influenced my review.

You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.

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