A Gift of Magic

Have you ever had a book mirror your life so much it’s spooky?A Gift of Magic is a children’s paranormal book. It was first published in 1971 and I read it in 1999 when I was about ten years old. It got re-released in 2012 and after looking up the synopsis to make sure it was the same book I remembered, I decided to get it and read it again.A Gift of Magic is about a girl named Nancy who has ESP. Nancy’s sister, Kirby, has the gift of dance, and her brother, Brendon, has the gift of music. The three children were given their gifts by their grandmother before she passed away.I remember relating really closely to Nancy the first time I read this. She’s the oldest, with a younger sister and younger brother, which is the same family structure as my family. She’s small, quiet, sensitive, and serious, all qualities that reminded me of myself at that age. She can read minds, check in on people remotely, move items, and talk to ghosts. Her talent causes her as much trouble as it is useful, though, because she can’t control when she’s using it.Kirby is similar to my sister as well. She’s laid back and dreamy. Kirby wants to be a professional ballet dancer, but she doesn’t have the tall, skinny body type that her teacher says she needs to achieve her goal. Despite that, she’s really passionate about dance and the scene where it describes her dancing is moving.Brendon is similar to my brother in some ways, too… he used to sometimes walk out of classes in kindergarten and Brendon has the same issue when he’s attending school for the first time. Brendon has the gift of music. He doesn’t want to study with a teacher, but he can play anything by ear.Something I had forgotten from when I first read this is that Nancy’s parents had just gotten a divorce at the beginning. I think I might have been too young in third grade to really understand what a divorce was, which is probably why I forgot that aspect. The situation with the parents in the book was actually really similar to the situation that my parents were going through in in real life. When we were growing up, we moved every three to four years because of my dad’s job, and it took a toll on my parents’ relationship.In A Gift of Magic, the father is a journalist who travels internationally, staying in hotels and moving countries every couple of weeks. After following him around for years, the mom decides to break up with him and move back into her grandmother’s house in Florida. Nancy takes the divorce really hard, acting out and trying to prevent her mother from getting close to her old high school boyfriend. Kirby and Brendon don’t seem bothered by it and that only makes Nancy feel more angry and alone.Nancy does come off as a brat sometimes, but I feel bad for her because she’s pretty isolated. Her dad left, her mom is distracted by heartbreak and new romance, Kirby is obsessed with dance to the exclusion of all else, and she and Brendon don’t get along. Because she’s hurting, she blocks everything out and focuses entirely on her studies and doesn’t make any friends at school. The kids were all homeschooled for years before starting regular school, so they all struggle with making friends—even Brendon only made one friend, and he’s more of a frenemy.The way this book treats talent and skill is interesting. The children are each given their talents, but they vary in whether they decide to use them or put their time and effort into something else. Nancy is ambivalent about her talent; she likes using it but she’s afraid it could be dangerous or garner too much attention. Her talent is too strong, so she hides it so she doesn’t seem like a freak. She hesitates to accept any kind of instruction because she’s afraid others will put her powers to their own use so she develops her skills in secret.Kirby, on the other hand, wants to be recognized globally for her talent and is willing to undergo intense training, but she has to fight against external forces in order to do it.Brendon doesn’t really use his talent or pay much attention to it, so it’s kind of just a cool thing he can do and he doesn’t struggle with it at all (except that he can’t stand to hear Nancy playing piano badly).The reason I didn’t give it five stars is that some of the ideas in it would be considered toxic or outdated today. It has really strong gender roles and stereotypes in that boys are expected to prove their masculinity by fighting and doing dangerous things. Brendon gets into a fight with another boy on the first day of school and they turn quickly from mortal enemies to friends. I think this could give young readers the idea that they should try to make friends by getting into fights with others, which is not healthy.I know friendship isn’t really the focus of this book but the author never addresses how Nancy’s own attitudes about the other kids at her school might be holding her back from making friends. Instead of taking the initiative to talk to people herself, she waits for the other kids to approach her, and when they don’t, blames it on them being cliquish. I know it’s scary to approach new people and comforting to relate to a character with the same struggles, but this mentality can be really limiting and feed into a cycle of self-perpetuating isolation. Children often turn to fantasy as a substitute for real friendship, but I think authors should avoid justifying the turn away from reality because it can stunt kids’ social and psychological development.Additionally, even though the children use their talents differently, the emphasis is squarely on talent and hard work comes secondary (Kirby works really hard, but she does that because she has the talent for dance in the first place). Talent is a big part of skill, but focusing too much on talent can give the wrong impression that people should only focus on things they’re talented in, or if something isn’t easy at first brush they should give up (but on the other hand, if you believe and are told you have a talent for something you might be more likely to stick with it even when things get rough… so there’s pros and cons to both ways of thinking about the origins of skill).The family dynamics are super realistic and Lois Duncan mentioned in the interview that follows that she based their personalities on those of her own children. She breaks the fourth wall a little bit at the end by writing herself into the story, which is kind of cheesy by today’s standards but it also winnows down that barrier between the book and real life, making the reader wonder how much of it was real.That ending was probably one of the first times I realized that writing was a job that people could have, and it might have influenced me to choose that career (for better or worse, haha).Author Trivia: Lois Duncan also wrote I Know What You Did Last Summer, as well as Who Killed My Daughter? and One to the Wolves, about her daughter Kait Arquette’s murder, which may have been related to an insurance fraud syndicate.

I loved this story by Lois Duncan. It is my favorite by her.

I’ve loved this book since I was 13. The story is just as timeless and engaging 20 years later. Rest In Peace, Lois.

When I was about 13 years old, I saved my allowance to buy and then read this book (over and over), which I later loaned to a visiting friend and never received back. Since then, I've been wanting to reread it and remembering bits and pieces of the story, but not remembering the title. It wasn't until COVID struck that I found the time and drive to investigate what the titles of this and other favourite books of mine were and repurchase them. What a gift! The story is even more empowering than I remember--the magic of being true to yourself and following your dreams. Inspiring and touching for teens and adults alike.

This was one of my favorite books as a kid. I was shocked in a good way to see how they updated the book to "today's technology" version. Cell, video games, etc.

Great book I enjoyed it as an adult and my ten year old did too

Fell in love with this book when Ibwas young. Loved being able to pass it along

I read this book as a teenager and

one of my fav novels as a teenager