Circle of Magic: Sandry's Book

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME AND EXCITING
Review: A magical and exciting book for people who love fantasy. Sandary, Daja, Tris, and Briar find themselves living together at Discipline. Briar doesn't like Discipline because he is the only boy. Sandary, Daja, Tris, and Briar find themselves getting into fights on the streets with other kids. One day they find themselves in a lot more trouble than a fight on the street. Can each of them call upon their special magic to save each other from certain death?

Rating:
Summary: A Number One!
Review: Anyone who has read even one of Tamora Pierce's enthralling books will know the colourful fantasy worlds that you get pulled into. This book, along with all the other books by TP, gets 100%!
Sandry's Book, or The Healing in the Vine as it is commonly called in Sydney, is centred around four children called Sandry, Briar, Tris and Daja. They are brought to the Winding Circle Temple to learn magical arts, only to all be placed in the isolation home, Discipline, for bad behaviour. At first they argue amongst themselves, but eventually they realise each of them possesses powers and join forces.
Many of you may want to read this book because you have read the bestseller, high praised Lioness(Alanna) series. This captivating, wondrous page-turner is another sublime example of Tamora Pierce's talent of writing and imagination.

Rating:
Summary: A great way to pass the time on a long car ride!
Review: Forgive me if I spell names incorrectly. I listened to the unabridged audio version of this story.

The book centers around four young outcasts named Daja (a Trader), Briar (a street thief), Sandry (a noble) & Tris (a commoner). All, for one reason or another, are basically on their own and have experienced far too much pain and disappointment in their young lives. They're unwanted, unloved, and unable to fit in. A mysterious man named "Niko" discovers and delivers each of them to a place called "Winding Circle Temple" where, once again, none of them are quite able to fit in with the other residents. They are eventually separated from the other (bratty and snooty, if you ask me) kids living at Winding Circle and are sent off to "Discipline", a cabin where they're pretty much isolated from the other residents at Winding Circle.

While at "Discipline" each discovers a previously untapped talent for magic. They spend their days learning to develop their own particular talents and becoming an unlikely group of close-knit friends. Eventually their bond and talents are put to the test as they must use their newly developed powers of meditation and concentration to face a natural disaster.

Pierce brings her world alive with vivid imagery and well described settings and the story moves along at brisk clip but I would have enjoyed it more had it been just a mite longer. Though the book is titled "Sandry's Book" it was as much about Briar, Tris and Daja as it was about Sandry. Though all of these characters come to life in this production the focus switches all too often between them (and not always smoothly) and their individual stories are spread a bit too thin for my liking (I was also confused at times as to which child was currently speaking which didn't help matters). Tamora Pierce serves as the narrator for the piece along with a full cast of actors supporting her. Pierce's narration comes across as a bit bland and monotonous when compared with the vivacious children but despite it all I found myself anxious to hear how it all turned out.

The story has humor, the kids are survivors both wise and emotional and I'm anxious to check out the other books in the series to learn more about prickly, guarded Tris, kind-hearted Sandry, plucky Briar and Daja (I can't wait to see where her interesting version of magic leads).