Light & Dark: The Awakening of the Mageknight

Danny Firoth is an average thirteen-year-old beginning eighth grade, struggling with the usual concerns of a boy of his age: bullies, homework and his mother. Sabrina Drake is the new girl. She is beautiful, but she harbors a fantastic secret. “You’re a dragon!” Danny exclaims at the beginning of their epic journey. “I am a drake,” Sabrina corrects him after their fierce battle with an ancient enemy, a Shadow. What follows is an explanation of legends as Danny learns that a simple card game, designed to pit the forces of the Light against those of the Dark, is actually reality. Accepted into the White Rock Academy of Illumination, a school for young Squires destined to become Knights of the Light and battle the Dark with magical weapons called Bondeds, Danny joins his friends in training that will change their lives forever. Danny and his friends are honed in the techniques of blade work by an Elvin swordmaster and educated in the tactics of the Light by a colorful assortment of professors. However, discovering a powerful ability within himself, one that may mark him as their destined savior, the Mageknight, Danny must question the intentions of his instructors. With the help of his friends, Danny must use everything he has learned to thwart the betrayal of someone within the Order of Light. Though Danny and his friends deal with heavy issues--struggling to fit in, the reality of death, the burden of a new fantastic world--they manage to do so with a sharp sense of humor, keeping the narrative engaging and exciting. Readers should find that they have much in common with the characters in this middle-grade fantasy adventure novel.