The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

Author: Michael Scott
Year: 2007
Publisher: Delacorte Press

15 year old twins, Sophie and Josh Newman, take summer jobs working across the street from one another. Sophie works for a coffee and tea shop. Josh works at a bookstore owned by Nick Fleming. One afternoon, their lives take a very drastic turn when the bookstore is attacked by the magician John Dee. Josh and Sophie learn that Nick Fleming is actually the alchemist of legend, Nicholas Flamel. (Yeah, the one with the sorcerer's stone of immortality from Harry Potter.) Flamel, Sophie and Josh just barely escape the bookstore with their lives and Flamel's wife is kidnapped. From there, Josh and Sophie's world expands as they meet people of legends and myth as they try to stay alive and escape John Dee.

This book was a quick read and entertaining. It reminded me a bit of the Percy Jackson series but I think that was just because so many mythological characters and ancient gods were brought into the story. It's not deep or earth-shattering but it was fun. It's a book that I think a lot of kids would enjoy and a number of adults. I definitely did.