Jacks School of Shines (Lulu, 2010)

Review by G.L. Giles
Author: Jack Sorenson

This young adult novel of 203 pages moves along at a good pace with lots of action, so it’s fairly easy to read. The similarities to the Harry Potter series are readily apparent as it is the story of five Wizard boys from Jacks School of Shines Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Sorenson informs the reader on p. 9, “The School of Shines is huge, but virtually unknown even to the wizardry world. The school is located in a remote area…” And, as is explained on p. 27, “Merlin, [the] first Headmaster [of the School of Shines Witchcraft and Wizardry] …named the School of Shines after an old Dragon he took one hundred long years to battle, Griffin Shines the Terra.” However, this is primarily the story of Colin and his schoolmates, who set out on a quest to battle the Dark and Evil that killed their Headmaster Robert Barns. It’s of note that Headmaster Barns’ father was a “mighty sorcerer by the name of Shines,” so there might be more than one reason for the title of the book (p. 19). Although some of the magic seemed a bit over the top, there were some delightful descriptions of places presented in mesmerizing detail. Yet, none of the characterizations really jumped from the page for me. All in all, it’s an interesting read worth checking out. 7/10.