title: Thirteenth Child (Frontier Magic)
author:  Patricia C. Wrede 
description: Grade 7&ndash;9&mdash;In this alternative history, a magical barrier protects most people from the dangerous magical creatures of the Wild West. Eff is a 13th unlucky child who supposedly will cause doom and misfortune, and is twin sister to Lan, the lucky and extra-magical 7th son of a 7th son. This novel covers a lot of ground both in time, following Eff from when she's 5 until she's 18, and in distance, as Eff's family moves to the Western frontier when Eff's magic-professor father and practical mother decide that the move will hide Eff and Lan's differences. Then Lan's potential is revealed after he causes an annoying classmate to float. When he leaves to go to school back East, Eff follows her own path to learning more about magic, including assisting in caring for the magical creatures at her father's college. Her narration provides background about life in this version of early America, where magic helps with daily chores but brings its own dangers. Eff's life in Lan's shadow will ring true to all siblings of a particularly talented child, but at the conclusion it's Eff who uses her own magic to rescue her twin. Reminiscent of Orson Scott Card's "Alvin Maker" books (Tor), this is an interesting, but often slow-moving tale.&mdash;<I>Beth L. Meister, Milwaukee Jewish Day School, WI</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  ## Thirteenth Child
  
  
    
  
  
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  _( Frontier Magic - 1 )_
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Patricia C. Wrede
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Eff was born a thirteenth child. Her twin brother, Lan, is the seventh son of
  a seventh son. This means he's supposed to possess amazing talent — and she's
  supposed to bring only bad things to her family and her town. Undeterred, her
  family moves to the frontier, where her father will be a professor of magic at
  a school perilously close to the magical divide that separates settlers from
  the beasts of the wild.
  
  
  With wit and wonder, Patricia Wrede creates an alternate history of westward
  expansion that will delight fans of both J. K. Rowling and Laura Ingalls
  Wilder.
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Thirteenth Child
  
  
  ## (The first book in the Frontier Magic series)
  
  
  ## A novel by Patricia C. Wrede
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _For Beth Friedman,_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _who steered this back on track more times than I care to count_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 