Do you or your middle schooler love books about magical schools and magical lands? Then I have the series for you!! Perhaps you are missing the release of new Harry Potter books. If so, this series is for you. Today I get to share with you a fantasy middle school series (trilogy) by Erika Lewis. It is The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts Series. It is recommended for ages 8 to 12. It has magic, mystery, friendships, new creatures, goddesses, and a never-ending war between summer and winter.
About the Series:
The Academy for the Unbreakable ArtsWritten by Erika Lewis
A 2023 Teacher Favorites Winner (6th-8th Grade) for the Children's Book Council
Brimming with Celtic mythology, action, and danger, Erika Lewis's Kelcie Murphy and The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts introduces readers to a new kind of magical school and a warrior who must choose with which side of an epic battle her destiny will lie.
The Otherworld is at war. The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts trains warriors. And Kelcie Murphy―a foster child raised in the human world―is dying to attend.
A place at AUA means meeting Scáthach, the legendary trainer of Celtic heroes. It means learning to fight with a sword. It means harnessing her hidden powers and―most importantly―finding out who her parents are, and why they abandoned her in Boston Harbor eight years ago.
When Kelcie tests into the school, she learns that she’s a Saiga, one of the most ancient beings in the Otherworld. Secretive, shunned, and possessed of imposing elemental powers, the Saiga are also kin to the Otherworld's most infamous traitor.
But Kelcie is a survivor, and she’ll do whatever it takes to find her parents and her place in their world. Even if that means making a few enemies.
PURCHASE LINK
About the Author
Erika Lewis is the author of the Kelcie Murphy Series from Starscape, The Color of Dragons from HarperTeen, Game of Shadows from Tor Books, Firebrand from Legendary Comics, and more, many of which have been published around the world.
She grew up in Virginia before going off to Tennessee for school. While at Vanderbilt University, studying Math and Theatre, she spent a semester abroad, visiting haunted ruins and magical forests that would forever spark her imagination and leave behind an insatiable need to travel.
An internship at CNN led to exciting years working in television, developing scripted and reality shows for various studios and networks. Then, one day, Erika knew it was time for her to write on her own, to build fantastical worlds that stayed with her after every return from a trip, and also to play her part in inspiring the next generation of readers and writers.
For more information, visit erikalewis.com
or Social Links
From Me:
I am going to start by saying this series is amazing!! I can easily see it being as popular as Harry Potter once the word gets out. It is a book I see many, many middle school students and beyond loving! The characters are well developed, and the otherworld is full of mystery and interesting creatures, plants and more. All three books are fun to read and hard to put down.
Book 1:
In Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts, we meet Kelcie Murphy. She is a foster kid in and around Boston. When her social worker and a strange woman show up at her field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts, she discovers a whole new world. First, she is forced into challenging the current heir of what she doesn't know so she agrees. When they take off on her and she realizes the strange woman is an ice fairy she follows them into the park, and they disappear into a tree. She discovers the necklace she has always had since her parents abandoned her in Boston Harbor actually has a purpose. She enters the Otherworld and happens to come out right when people her age are about to take the test to see if they can make into the Academy for Unbreakable Arts. She doesn't know what it is or what has to happen but a young man, Niall, helps her and they make it together. Now the adventure is just starting. In the first book she discovers who her parents are and why she was abandoned in Boston Harbor. She learns to use her magic, that she didn't know she had. She and her fianna (academy teams) fight of soldiers of Winter and save the Lands of Summer.
This book is the introduction to this magical world. There are the Lands of Winter and the lands of Summer. They are divided by the abyss. The abyss is a body of water that is uncrossable. Birds can't even fly over it. Things that fall into the abyss disappear forever. At the Academy for Unbreakable Arts, teenagers are being trained as soldiers for the Lands of Summer. They are needed to fight in the war that is happening between Winter and Summer. It has been going on for thousands of years. No one remembers how it started but it continues. This book covers Kelcie's first year at the academy. Throughout the book many mysteries are revealed.
Book 2:
Book 3:
In Kelcie Murphy and the Race for the Reaper's Key, there are monsters attacking the Lands of Summer and ruining the harvest festival as well as the crops. The students return to the school determined to end this war. However, they are questioning if all these attacks are really happening by Summer and Winter. It ends up the evil King Baylor is back even after Kelcie destroyed his evil eye. I will admit I am still reading this one. It is wonderful and was hard to put down long enough to write this review. (Unfortunately, life got in the way of my reading time. Hazel has been wanting attention since she is homesick at boarding school and when your teenager want attention you tend to give it her because you know it won't last long.) This book continues the adventures and shares the heroes of the other books. Kelcie, Niall, Brona and Zephyr are together again fighting strange creatures and keeping Summer and each other safe. This book is being released this week!
I love the adventures in these books. The imagination Erika Lewis has to create them is amazing. The stories flow easily from the pages and makes you want to continue reading. I can easily see these becoming classic books for middle school students (and perhaps movies). They are that good. At the end of each book is a glossary for all the terms from the academy and the creatures in the Otherworld. Each book can be read on its own, but who would want to? These books are amazing, and each continues where the other last one left off. I cannot imagine only reading one. I think I would want to go and read the others as quickly as I can. This is a must-read series, and every library and middle school should own multiple copies!
Some of the topics included in the book relate to our society. The Fomorians are punished for the crime of one and are forced to live in an awful and dangerous gated woods. They have to pass through security to enter or leave. It could lead to a discussion of racism, Antisemitism, and more prejudices. The queens do not seem to care about their people and keep the war going for their own power. The list can go from there. I can definitely see these books read in a class and many interesting discussions coming from them.
Erika Lewis provided us with an activity kit which you can download. It shares a bit of the Celtic heritage that is touched upon in the book. Her website has more resources including educator guides, coloring pages and more!
Giveaway:
Enter the giveaway below for your chance to win a signed hardcover set of all three books in the Kelcie Murphy series, including the final installment: Kelcie Murphy and the Race for the Reaper's Key! Good luck!!
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