Everything is going so well. One final audition and Amelia Jones will finally be accepted into the Mystwick School of Musicraft, just like her mother before her. Until Amelia is delayed and finds herself running late for the audition. And then she accidentally sets her dress on fire. And then she misses just a couple of notes in her growth spell and makes the Maestro’s mustache grow down to his waist. In The Mystwick School of Musicraft, the debut middle grade novel by Jessica Khoury, Amelia knows her dream is dead, her last connection to her mother severed—until her acceptance letter arrives.
Khoury builds a world where music and magic are intertwined, in which a well-played song can charm a chicken and a professional orchestra can dissipate a tornado. Anyone can learn simple songs and tiny charms, but it takes a special school like Mystwick to train musicians to be Maestros, to teach them the music that can mold, shape and change the world, and to understand just how dangerous, even deadly, musical spells can be. Despite this extraordinary environment, Amelia experiences the same uncertainties and insecurities as anyone who has ever stretched outside of their comfort zone.
Written in the tradition of other magical school stories such as Harry Potter and The School for Good and Evil, The Mystwick School of Musicraft quickly finds its own melody as it deals with family relationships, loss, unlikely friendships and even more unlikely allies. Through her fast-paced and effortless writing, Khoury has created an imaginary world that readers will want to revisit.
