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Unabridged Digital Audiobook
Runtime: 2 hours, 50 minutes
Read by Rebecca Soler
For magical misfit Nory Horace in the Upside-Down Magic series by authors Emily Jenkins, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle, fifth grade has been full of ups and downs. But when she’s forced to attend her father’s exclusive academy in the audio edition of Hide and Seek, she could be in for her biggest challenge yet.
The story catches up with Nory and her friends from the upside-down magic program as a flood temporarily sends them away from Dunwiddle Magic School and off to prestigious Sage Academy, where Nory’s disapproving father is the headmaster. Nory’s dad thinks that she’s gotten control of her magic enough to begin attending Sage—but the more time Nory spends there, the less comfortable she feels. But the same isn’t true of all of her friends—like her best friend, Elliot, who finds that the new school is helping him expand his growing magical powers.
As Nory and her classmates try to find their way through a few days at this elite school for magical kids, each faces his or her own challenges. As is usually the case, though, the focus is on Nory and just one of her friends. While most of the kids just try to enjoy their time at a fancy boarding school away from home, Nory is isolated from the others, spending more time with her family instead of with her friends, while Elliot branches out, meeting new people with different abilities. Their stories may be quite different, but both will teach young readers the importance of being true to themselves.
While much of this series has had an underlying sadness about it, though—whether it relates to Nory’s dads rejection of her or just the way in which other students treat the UDM kids—that heaviness seems to have been lifted here. Nory’s dad is still disapproving of her “wonky” magic, but it seems as though he’s starting to see her great potential. But it’s more than that, really. It’s the fact that Nory is finally starting to see her own worth. She’s finding more strength and confidence, and she has friends who like her for who she is—wonky magic or not. That confidence comes shining through, encouraging young readers to feel more confident in their own differences.
After so many trials and challenges, the UDM kids finally seem to be finding their place in the magical world. And that realization makes for a more uplifting book—one with a great message for readers of all ages.
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