Sandry's Book

Locations
Call Number: Teen Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Pierce, Tamora
On Shelf At: Pittsfield Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Pittsfield Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Pierce, Tamora	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Four young misfits find themselves living in a strictly disciplined temple community where they become friends while also learning to do crafts and to use their powers, especially magic.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Why to read Sandry's Book submitted by emilyc-r on August 21, 2008, 1:00pm Book Review
Emily Corwin-Renner
Sandry’s Book
Tamora Pierce
Fantasy
Copyright 1997

Setting: Sandry’s Book takes place in a magical land. There are many countries in this land but most of the book takes place in Emelan. The four main characters all start out in different places in the beginning. They are all taken to Winding Circle a school for mages. In this book (and others by Tamora Pierce) the word mage means a person who has magical powers.

Author’s Style: Sandry’s Book is written in third person. In the beginning of Sandry’s Book, Tamora Pierce goes back and fourth between the four main characters. Once they are together this doesn’t happen as much. The book goes along at a steady pace. There is a focus on the character’s feelings. I liked that because unlike most fantasy books it wasn’t all action.

Characters:
Sandry is an orphan whose parent’s were nobility. She has magic connected with textiles.
Daja is also an orphan. Her parents were Traders who drown. Her magic is with metal.
Briar (Roach) is a former thief who has plant magic.
Tris is a girl who was sent away because her parents didn’t want her. She has weather
magic.
Niko is a great mage whose job is to find things that were hidden.
Lark and Rosethorn are the teachers and caretakers at the house where they stay.
Frostpine is Daja’s teacher.

Plot: Sandry, Daja, Briar, and Tris don’t fit in the main part or Winding Circle where they have just started school so they are taken to a small cottage near the school. There they live together along with Lark and Rosethorn. At first they find it hard to get along with each other but by the end of the book they care about each other in a way none of them could have imagined.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about friends and school even if fantasy is not usually their thing. I would not recommend this book to someone who wants a book full of magical creatures and action. I enjoyed the book a lot. Sandry’s Book is the first in a quartet called Circle of Magic so if you enjoy the book you will have more to look forward to. I haven’t read any of the other books yet but I plan to soon. There is also another quartet that has some of the same characters and comes after this one called The Circle Opens.

Excellent start to the series submitted by ValerieL on June 14, 2014, 11:24am I thoroughly enjoy all of the Winding Circle books with Sandry and her friends. This is a good start to the series as it provides a bit of back story on all of the children and how they came to live in the cottage, "Discipline", with Lark & Rosethorn.

I'm not sure "Sandry's book" is really the best title for this book, though I realize Ms. Pierce probably chose it to go with the rest of the series' titles, "Tris's Book", "Daja's Book", & "Briar's Book", but really, this book is about all the children and there's only a small portion of the book that concentrates solely on Sandry. While all four of these books encompass all of the children, I feel like this one contains the least amount about its supposed subject compared to the others.

Still it's an excellent start to the series and I think that even though it's classified as "Teen", those who are in the tween ages, 10-12 or so, would also enjoy this series and many of Ms. Pierce's books.

Creative submitted by kathscot on August 23, 2017, 6:44pm A creative magic book where the growing friendship between the four protagonists drives the story. I will read all 4 books in the series.

Magical submitted by peterpmb on June 20, 2022, 9:38pm The beginning of several series based around the same characters. Interesting take on magical abilities and great series for young readers.

Excellent series submitted by jmb.mlis on July 15, 2023, 11:54pm Circle of Magic is my favorite of all of Tamora Pierce's book series'! I so want to be friends with Sandry, Briar, Tris, and Daja!