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Editorial Review Product Description
There are good witches and bad witches, but the law says that all witches must be burned at the stake. So when an anonymous note warns, "Someone in this class is a witch," the students in 6B are nervous -- especially the boy who's just discovered that he can cast spells and the girl who was named after the most famous witch of all.Witch Week features the debonair enchanter Chrestomanci, who also appears in Charmed Life, The Magicians of Caprona, and The Lives of Christopber Chant.Someone in the class is a witch. At least so the anonymous note says. Everyone is only too eager to prove it is someone else -- because in this society, witches are burned at the stake.Amazon.com Review
Someone in 6B is a witch. And, in the alternate reality described in Diana Wynne Jones's Witch Week, that's not at all a good thing to be.Jones plunks her readers directly into the life of Larwood House, a schoolin a present-day England that's a lot like the world we know, except forone major difference: witches are everywhere, and they are ruthlesslyhunted by inquisitors. With witty, erudite writing, Jones tells of theadventures of the class of 6B as they set about to discover who among themis a witch. Clearly it's not the popular Simon or the perfect Theresa.Could it be fat Nan or sluggish Charles? Mysterious Nirupam or shifty-eyedBrian? By the climax of the book (which, by the way, involves saving theworld), being a witch has become a badge of honor rather than a mark ofshame. Jones skillfully and seamlessly switches from one point of view toanother, creating a comic companion piece to Lord of the Flies asshe shows with perfect understanding the way children torment eachother--and save each other. She neatly interweaves the dramatic plotwith knowing descriptions of school life, as when lumpen Nan warilyobserves the popular girls: "At lessons, she discovered that Theresaand her friends had started a new craze. That was a bad sign. Theywere always more than usually pleased with themselves at the start ofa craze... The craze was white knitting, white and clean and fluffy,which you kept wrapped in a towel so that it would stay clean. Theclassroom filled with mutters of, 'Two purl, one plain, twisttwo....'" Witch Week is a hugely entertaining book that doesn'tcondescendingly beat children over the head with its humane message ofacceptance. --Claire Dederer ... Read more Customer Reviews (35) 
Move over, Harry Potter
Witch Weekly was given to me by a neighbor of mine when I was around nine or ten. It was my introduction to the marvellous works of British author, Diana Wynne Jones.
Witch Weekly is written on the premise of a world just like ours, particularly in the case of technology, with one small twist. There are witches in that world, as there have been since approximately 1600. However, in these modern times, witchcraft is illegal. Anyone who is a witch is burned in a barbaric bonefire under orders of the government.
The main location of the story is Larwood House, a boarding school in England for witch-orphans and children with other problems. The story focuses on one class in particularly, especially the main characters.
The two main, main characters of the novel are Charles Morgan and Dulcinea Pilgrim, called Nan. At the premise of the novel, one of the teachers, Mr. Crossley, has just discovered a note while grading papers, that reads in capital letters: SOMEONE IN THIS CLASS IS A WITCH. Now considering that witches are burnt, just for having witchcraft, even if they were as young as the children at Larwood House, this is a very serious accusation to make.
Nan is targeted by her classmates, in particular the girls, because of two reasons. Firstly, she is somewhat of a misfit in a school of misfits. She has no friends. She is a dumpy, quiet kind of girl, and she has trouble in gym class. Secondly, Nan's real name is Dulcinea, the name of the Archwitch, Dulcinea Wilkes, a notorious witch from history.
Charles is not targeted but instead, he has a series of close encounters witch sorcery. He accidentally turns invisible, and also casts a "Simon Says" type of spell on a classmate of his, Simon Silverson, who he greatly dislikes.
The two main secondary characters are Nirupam Singh and Estelle Green. Nirupam had an older brother, accused of witchcraft and burned, and thus, acts slightly as an advisor to Charles. Estelle's mother used to run a witch equivalent of the underground railroad before she got caught, and so becomes a friend and to some degree, an advisor to Nan.
Everything escalates when the regional witch inspector is scheduled to visit Larwood House.
Diana Wynne Jones writes diverse, sympathetic, multicultural characters.
She creates a vast, complex, believable universe far richer than the needless detail of J.K. Rowling.
I highly recommend Witch Weekly as well as other books by Diana Wynne Jones, such as The Magicians of Caprona, Mixed Magics, Charmed Life, A Tale of Time City, and The Many Lives of Christopher Chant.
Magical writing
A funny, quick read as entertaining for adults as it is for children.With the obvious similarities in the boarding school setting and the children's discovery of their magical powers, Harry Potter comparisons abound.While they are similar on several levels (and I love both), the tone and feeling of this novel is all its own.Jones is obviously adept at building worlds and populating them with interesting magical details, but even more impressive is her characterization of the kids of 6B - the main characters of Nan and Charles seem especially real, and even with the more minor characters like Nirupam and Estelle, Jones is precise enough with her dialogue and descriptions to make them seem like real people.She clearly has a profound understanding of how children of this age relate to one another, and what's more, she doesn't write down to her readers or make her characters any less complex simply because they are young.The beginning may be somewhat slow, but the second half is just a delight.Recommended for anyone who likes boarding school books, quality YA fantasy, or laughing.
The best book I have ever read and the one I nver forgot
Witch Week is the book I loved and never forgot. Now that I am a mother, I have been trying to remember a lot of books I read from libraries and buy them for my child, but this one I never ever forgot. I used to buy it for kids on birthdays until it was time to read it to my own daughter. I read it again and had the same incredible sensation of floating as I did the first time. This was amazing, how can you feel entranced reading a book in the same way as when you were twelve? So I read it to her, she read it to me, I read it, she read it, then when we were done, we rented a CD and listened to it, just as hooked. When the CD was done, I wanted to go right back to the beginning, and start over, just to keep that magical feeling going, forever. Diana, I love you! I've reread other books by her, and they are all good so far, but Witch Week is still my favorite!
Don't compare it to Potter, judge it on it's own merits!
Diane Wynne Jones has a lot of fans on Amazon so I feel like I need to justify why I'm giving this only 3 stars (I'd give it 3 1/2 if it would let me!)
Basic plot: in an alternate universe in 1970's England where witches DO exist and are persecuted and burned, an anonymous note accuses someone in a 6th grade class of a co-ed boarding school of being a witch. We have several suspects - (my favorite was Nirupam) they all seem to be outcasts in their own way.
I suppose this is where my complaining starts. I didn't like how one-dimensional a lot of the characters were, especially Theresa and Simon who just seemed like stock villains. The inquisitor was so obnoxious and Miss Hodge made no sense at all. SPOILER BELOW
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Spoiler - she wanted to marry Mr. Wentworth because she thinks he makes lots of money and because she thinks he will get promoted soon and then when she learns that he is still married and basically broke because he is being taken advantage of by the school SHE STILL DEMANDS TO MARRY HIM??? What?? MINUS ONE STAR!!! Sorry, I expect an author to make sense and not turn a character into an idiot just for plot's sake!
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The story had a good pace and tons of funny moments despite the complaints above and Nan, Charles and Brian really do seem like real 6th graders. Unfortunately, Brian's motives never really made sense.
The ending dragged. They kept going on and on and onnnnnn about Guy Fawkes. I don't know what it is about British authors and their love for Epic Fail Guy (even Harry potter had the phoenix Fawkes!) It's a tad bit tedious especially when you're trying to read a story not read a history lesson.
An important character who shows up near the end wont make any sense at all unless you've read The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 1: Charmed Life / The Lives of Christopher Chant first. And his 'vague looks' were just... ugh.
Anyway, don't compare this book to the Harry Potter series, it simply would not be fair. Though you can totally see some spots where JK Rowlings (and Jonathan Stroud from the Bartimaeus trilogy for that matter) were influenced, the Chrestomanci series does it's own thing and is definitely worth a read.
what kind of ink does this woman use? does it come from another world?
In a parallel world much like our own, where witches are both common and burned at the stake, there is a class at a boarding school where odd things start happening. Birds burst into class, everything that Simon says comes true, and Nan starts flying on a broomstick at nights. In danger of being found out, they call on Chestomanci for help and to put their world to right. Jones elevates an ordinary story into the realm of magic by maintaining mystery throughout and creating such miraculous magical elements. Her characters are fantastic, too. She is thoroughly addicting. Grade: A-
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