The Princesses of the Hidden World!
Wellspring of Magic-By Jan Fields-Published-Creative Girls Club-Copyright 2007-118 pages
Character Description
There is more than one main character in this book, but I would say that the book definitely talks about Rachel the most. Rachel is a quick, energetic girl, and she LOVES animals, especially bears. She is Princess of the Guarded Forest, and she can talk to animals, but only she can hear them. Another main character is Aly, Rachel's identical twin sister. Aly is A LOT calmer, and she definitely likes to take her time, and she absolutely loves plants. She is Princess of the Earth. She can talk to and control plants, and see their energy. Another main character is Marisol. She loves jewelry, magic, and swimming. She is Princess of the Living Waters. Another is Kaida. She loves sports, crafts, and adventures. She is Princess of the Bright Sky. Rissa is another main girl. She loves friends and LOTS of color. She is
Princess of Spellcraft. And last but not least, Shaylee. The small, shy girl loves dance, especially ballet, the color pink, and crafts. She is Princess of the Folk.
Plot
In this story, six girls, Aly, Rachel, Kaida, Marisol,Rissa, and Shaylee, move into Portal, Connecticut, where there is a circle of six houses, and in the middle of that circle of houses, a small stone building which the girls make into their clubhouse. One day, each of the girls gets a small metal triangle with a picture engraved into it. Rachel's is a bear, Aly's is a plant, Rissa's has a book, Shaylee's has some sort of fairy or elf, Marisol's has a river dragon, and Kaida's has an Alicorn. (An Alicorn is a unicorn with wings.) They put the triangles on the table, and accidentally open a portal to another world! They go into the portal, and meet bears, the Guardians, who try to bring the girls to a vine wall, a wall surrounding the wellspring. Rissa casts a spell to try and get them past the wall, but she ends up getting them stuck in mud that at first they think is quicksand. It was cold, slimy, sticky, deep, and made them sink so low that they were just about waist deep. Next they meet these "people", if that's what you could call them. Their skin, and hair is naturally tinted a metallic green, and their ears are finely pointed. They go on a boat with a small boy of the folk, (the green people) and a wave tips the boat over, and Marisol turns into a mermaid, and Rissa casts a spell to turn her back. They get to the wellspring, and find that it has been covered in spiderwebs. They also see that the magic water is frozen solid. They try to break the spiderwebs, but as soon as one thread is broken, six little spiders scurry down to fix it. Kaida breaks an entire one of the webs, and the six little spiders scurry down, and go into the grass. They grow into MASSIVE 7-8 foot spiders, and the girls have to use their magic to kill them. They defeat the spiders, and the six girls dance around the wellspring and repeat a chant, and the magic water starts flowing again. The wellspring is fixed! They wish themselves back home, and when they get there, they realize that since it was a magical portal, they return home at the exact moment that they left.
(Add on) Rissa's spells From the Book
"Magic move us-We need some luck, get us out of here, 'cause we're so stuck!"
"Water princess back on land no longer needs her tail. Change back to legs and skin and clothes. Magic rhyme don't fail"
Conflict
The conflict in this story is that in this alternative world the wellspring that lets all the magic get into the world, (the things in that world can't live without the magic) but dark evil magic created by six evil spellmasters is getting into the world, and killing the good magic by covering the Wellspring with evil magic spiderwebs. And without the good magic, everything else in the world is dying. It's up to Rachel, Aly, Kaida, Marisol, Rissa, and Shaylee to save it.
Title Explanation
The title "Wellspring of Magic" relates to the story because the Wellspring is the whole reason that the girls had to go to the hidden world in the first place. If I had to choose a different title it would probably be "No Princess, No Pride" because that world wouldn't exist without the Wellspring, and the Princesses have to save it. So without the Princesses, the alternative world would cease to exist.
Overall review
This book is very suspensive, mysterious, and magical. It is great for girls 7-12 and it helps them learn about friendship, working together, never giving up, and dedication to whatever challenges you may face. This book definitely could've been longer, and a little more detailed. But overall, It was a good, edge of your seat, entertaining book.