The Boy with the Hawk-Like Eyes (The Sprite Sisters – 6) by Sheridan Winn
THE SPRITE SISTERS
Four sisters
Four elements
Four powers
‘The Boy With Hawk-like Eyes’ is the sixth title in Sheridan Winn’s Sprite Sister series.
Aimed at ‘tween’ readers, the magical adventures of Flame, Marina, Ash and Ariel – who each have a power related to one of the elements, Fire, Water, Earth and Air – have been bestsellers for Fischer Verlag, with over 500,000 copies sold in Germany. Piccadilly Press published the first five titles in the UK, where the books have a keen fan base. Sheridan Winn bought back the rights in 2012 and now publishes the Sprite series herself.
The Boy With Hawk-like Eyes moves the story along and the sisters are now:- Flame, 15, Marina 15, Ash 123 and Ariel, 11 years.
‘Have you ever thought about flying?’ said Zak.
Ariel blinked. ‘In an aeroplane?’
‘No. Lifting your arms and soaring into the air.’
Ariel stared at Zak. She could feel his eyes boring into her and the colour rising in her cheeks. She had been flying over Sprite Towers last night! What should she say?
‘No, ‘ she said, with a shake of her head. ‘Why, have you?’
Zak grinned. ‘Yes – flying is cool. You should try it.’
It is a year and a half since the Sprite Sisters used their magic powers of Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Amidst much bickering, Flame and Marina are busy with their teenage social lives and even Ash seems to have forgotten about magic. As Ariel harnesses her power of Air to learn to fly, a strange boy comes to Sprite Towers and the family is threatened by the invasion of terrifying, insect-like creatures. With dark magic unleashed in the old house and the air turning poisonous, the Sprite Sisters must quickly find a way to remember their powers.
Sheridan Winn
The idea for a series of books about four sisters with magical powers aligned to the four elements popped out at 1.30am on 22nd January 2007, as Sheridan was writing her diary. She noted down the one-sentence idea, and when she woke next morning had the certain feeling that this was the idea she had been waiting for.
She approached Piccadilly Press, which commissioned the first Sprite Sister novel, The Circle of Power. She has since published eight Sprite Sister titles, with another five to come (two main and three prequel stories). In Germany, Fischer Verlag’s sales of Sprite titles have surpassed 500,000.
Sheridan was born in Norfolk, England, and grew up in a big, rambling house in the country that became the inspiration for Sprite Towers.
The eldest of four sisters, she drew on many childhood experiences as inspiration for the stories.
After boarding school she gained a degree in graphic design, followed by a postgraduate teaching certificate. For 25 years she worked with her illustrator husband as his business and creative manager. Together they produced a number of children’s picture books, along with the ‘Mad Gadget’ cartoon, which was the most popular strip in Daily Telegraph’s ‘Young Telegraph’ newspaper for over seven years.
In 2001, Sheridan changed career and became a freelance journalist specialising in lifestyle features and profiles of international business leaders. Today she spends the greater part of her time writing fiction.
In 2014, Sheridan wrote Boudica’s Daughters, a YA novel about two pairs of sisters living two thousand years apart. Essentially, a modern-day tale about coming to terms with a terrible violation, the story of the daughters of Queen Boudica of the Iceni tribe echoes that of today.
A lively and engaging speaker, Sheridan enjoys the chance to interact with her readers and other writers. She lives in Norwich and has two grown-up children and a granddaughter. She has a keen interest in the Arts and finds walking a good way to think up ideas. She always carries a notebook.
Website Goodreads Facebook Twitter
My Review
5 stars
Flame and Marina are busy with their phones and boyfriends. Ariel is feeling left out but when Zak, Marina’s boyfriend asks Ariel if she has flown, Ariel decides to use her magic to fly. But one night she sees strange yellow eyes. It seems some screeglings have found their way to Sprite Towers. They are attracted to magic so Ariel thinks that she drew them initially. But when she is warned about the Boy with the Hawk-Like Eyes, she thinks that Zak has something to do with this. It’s up to the sisters to get close again to fight the screeglings and the Boy with the Hawk-Like Eyes.
I loved this story. You can’t help but feel bad for Ariel with her sisters growing up. But I really liked how the sisters put aside their differences to stop the screeglings and to figure out if Zak was really causing all the problems. And Zak, you could understand his feelings.
Although this is part of a series I can easily be read as a stand-alone story. There are pervious adventures mentioned but it doesn’t slow or stop the story not really knowing about them. The Boy with the Hawk Eyes is a great story for Mid-Graders and adults alike.
I have been lucky enough to receive the next two books in this series, Magic at Drysdale’s School and The Mystery of the Locked Room. Unfortunately I ran out of time to read and review them before posting about this book. But be sure to keep your eyes open. I should have their reviews posted shortly.
To purchase The Boy with the Hawk-Like Eyes make sure to check out Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads.
I received The Boy with the Hawk-Like Eyes for free from Sage’s Blog Tours in exchange for an honest review.
jbronderbookreviews 