Description:

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–In the same tradition as J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter or David Eddings's Belgariad series (Ballantine), a 13-year-old boy is found to have strange talents to be used for good or evil. When his parents go to China on business, New Yorker Davey Boehm is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Great Oak, NC. He is nearsighted, a terrible athlete, and extremely smart–an easy target for the school bully. After missing the bus after school, he cuts across Harrison Park and comes face to face with the great oak that gives the town its name. It prompts him to climb it and a squirrel gives him a necklace that begins to unlock the secrets of his mysterious ancestry. With help from the Cherokee tribe that lives up the mountain, he learns more about his great-grandparents and discovers that he is a descendant of a long line of magicians. He then learns how to use his powers to free the town from a demonic spirit that has gained control over a prominent family. In a world in which wishes come true, enemies can be turned into allies, and animals can be communicated with, Davey grows to become a true hero and protector as was prophesized so many years before. Full of mystery and intrigue, this lengthy first book of the series will delight fantasy readers.–June H. Keuhn, Corning East High School, NY
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From the Publisher

In this rich and imaginative young-adult fantasy, author Thomas L. Blair introduces protagonist Davey Boehm, a New York lad who is unaware of his dormant magic skill. The story opens with Davey puzzling over his newest problem. Stray animals are following him around – as if being nearsighted, insecure, and the worst athlete in seventh grade isn’t enough. When he asks his mom about this oddity, she makes a vague reference to his ancestors and then hastily changes the subject. A few weeks later, his parents depart for China, sending him to stay with his aunt until they return. Thus, his extraordinary adventure in the North Carolina Mountains begins.

His aunt lives in Great Oak – to this New York teenager, a very strange place indeed. Before long, he can hardly keep up with the many challenges there. The town, once the home of his great grandparents, has succumbed to the control of a malicious family – a family that resents his arrival. To make matters worse, he has daily confrontations with a school bully, and a hired thug is constantly lurking around his house. Then he hears these Cherokee legends and weird stories of witchcraft that involve his great grandparents. None of it makes any sense until he comes across an ancient tree and finds a magical necklace – a clue to his birthright. And so starts a journey of discovery...

Thankfully for Davey, an older boy of Cherokee descent and a brash young girl help him figure things out. As the pieces fit together, Davey realizes that fate has brought him to the town for a reason. A shape-shifting evil spirit haunts the nearby mountains; he and his friends must undertake a prophesized quest to destroy it. The lives of many, as well as their own, hang in the balance.