Incantation By: Alice Hoffman

source

• Title: Incantation
• Author: Alice Hoffman
• Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication Date:  October 1, 2006 
• Pages: 166
• Genre: Historical Fiction
• Recommended Age(s): 13+
• First Read: 2015
• Source: Library
• Rating: 4.0 / 5.0 stars

It seems that I have been in a historical fiction phase lately; all I have read for the last few months are these types of books. But they are just so good that I can't resist. This book is about an obscure, yet terrible phase in world history-during the Spanish persecution of their Jewish population.

In all accounts, Incantation is very short, with less than 200 pages, yet it packed quite a lot in its 166 pages. After finishing this book in a couple hours, I was left reeling because everything had just happened so fast. I am usually used to historical novels taking their time, as there is a breadth of historical facts that are usually embedded into the framework of the plot. Here though, everything goes from Pleasantville to Crazy Town in a few short chapters. I suppose that it fits in with the type of story that is being told because Estrella had her life yanked from her in such a forceful manner that the reader has to have that same sense too. In my case, the pace was almost dizzying, but I liked it.

For such a short book, it sure had a lot of themes in it-friendship, loyalty, betrayal, identity- that I think were covered pretty well. The most interesting aspect of this book is the fact that Estrella and her family had to hide their true identities for so long and the lengths to which they went to ensure their survival. It shows an aspect of the human race that speaks to everyone-that people will do anything to survive. I also thought that Estrella's relationship with her best friend Catalina was incredibly interesting because it represented what did happen in real life to people during that time period. No one was safe anymore. And the the chilling fact is that what happened between Catalina and Estrella happens throughout the world every single day.

If I had anything bad to say about this book, it would only be that all the dialogue is set in italics without the traditional quotation marks and that disconcerted me a bit when I first started reading. However, I soon got used to it and the beautiful writing style and symbolism more than made up for my nit picky self. 

So if you're looking for a quick, yet powerful read, this book is the way to go.