Read For Free Escape To Witch Mountain Formulated By Alexander Key Formatted As Digital Format
terrifying experience has blocked Tony and Tia's memory of the past, But because they have supernatural powers, they are sure that they come from another world and that their people still exist somewhere.
Then Tony and Tia find that they must escape from men who want to use their special powers for evil.
They begin a desperate search to find their true home which leads them to the strange and mysterious Witch Mountain, Such a blast from my childhood! I had a vague memory of seeing this movie in thes but never read the book and really didn't remember the story.
It felt like I was seeing the very beginnings of E, T. and Harry Potter. My only complaint is the ending, A definite setup for another book, it really left me hanging, Loved the movie as a kid and just picked this up for no real reason, but man, most of the adults in this book are the worst.
This book was first published inbut it's still quite a sweet and interesting story, Wow, very different from what I remember about the movies, Almost wish there was more to it, It was a good adventure though, When I was a kid, the movie Escape to Witch Mountain, and its sequel, Return from Witch Mountain, was on television all the time.
I remember watching it with my brother endlessly, and recently I bought the DVD, I had never realized it was based on a book, Opening this up was like settling into my grandmother's recliner with this and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet novels, I was quite wellread as a child, thanks to my grandpa's old stash, It has all the feel of that type of novel, especially since my copy, through interlibrary loan, was quite old,
This little book is completely fascinating and not at all condescending to its audience, It's straightforward, not cutesy and admirably not campy, It's a great complement to the movie, “Shed always said that there must be something very bad about money, because those who needed it most never had it, and so many who had it would do such awful things to get more of it.
"
Alexander Key, Escape to Witch Mountain
My review:
Another great one from childhood! This is one of the best childhood adventure tales.
I adored it and loved the movie too,
It's a fun story packed full of adventure and fun and love, Will have to do a reread soon, I listened to this audiobook the cover illustration of which has a huge spoiler because I've always loved the movie.
The book was in fact great I especially appreciated the Cold War and theological angles but this may be a case where the movie is better.
The device of having the kids gradually remember their own backstory is kind of a cheat, let's be real, Very fun read, clean, short, juvenile read, Imaginative. Strong on plot. Weak on character development. Short anticommunist theme, amusingly contradicted, seemingly without irony, by short diatribe about evils of owning property or needing money to buy things.
Two orphaned children with olive skin, pale hair, and mysterious abilities try to discover who they are and where they belong while avoiding devilish bad guys.
The kids are helped by a roguish Catholic priest, a former Nam vet with a strong faith, deep goodness, and a strong right arm as well.
He is the only character in the book who has any dimension to him at all, Tony and Tia are orphans, who vaguely remember their family dying in a boat wreck of some kind, And they have psiabilities: Tony can work TK, Tia can unlock doors and talk to animals, Then the sinister Deucanian shows up at the group foster home, insisting he's their uncle, but the kids know better, With the help of a priest, they go on the run, but where can they hide And where do their abilities come from
While the basic plot is very close to the movie versions, this book is a good deal grimmer even with their powers, the kids are in over their head for much of the book.
Saintly Catholic priests and sinister Commie spies may date the book for younger readers then again, Deucanian could as easily be NSA, CIA or Chinese intelligence there's never going to be a time governments
wouldn't like control of a mind reader or two.
Saw the Disney movie well before reading the story, but it must be said the villain has a bumbling Disneyesque style.
My daughter enjoyed it well enough I found myself focused on the lack of technology, even though these aliens are more connected with mental powers.
In the end, the story was plausible first landing in Hungary, chased out by the Communist takeover and now hunted by elements of the US government.
. . or perhaps a Communist agent and the characters were likeable, The Disney movie reduced the political aspects by giving Lucas Deranian a millionaire boss instead, Sequel movies and a TV series pilot followed the book also has a sequel, Quick, fun scifi/fantasy read for children and early teens, How orphans with mysterious abilities find help, . . and a way to their own people, . . is a great adventure in a simplytold manner,
Originally written in, it is dated, certainly, but somehow that doesn't seem to matter, : I loved this book! It was so much fun, I remember watching the old movie of this when I was a kid and finally got around to reading the book!
Highly recommended! "Do you think the Lord on high is so frail that this little planet, with its greedy little people, is all that he can do Bah!.
. . Get out of my sight! Go tell the rest of your kind there are marvels in Creation far beyond their narrow dreaming.
" Amen Father O'Day!
For the past ten years, Tony and Tia have been living with a woman they called grandmother until she was hit by a taxi and killed.
Now they're orphans. No known relatives. Ages unknown. No records of any kind,
After a bit of trouble, they are sent to a detention home, Tia doesn't talk well, she talks telepathically to her brother and her brother can move things with his harmonica, Tia can unlock doors with a touch, They have powers no one understands,
The only clue they have about who they are comes from memories of being in a ship and the gold leaf star printed on Tia's box she carries.
They go on a journey to figure out where they belong and where they came from, Along the way, they come across smallminded hillbillies, a wealthy man with ill intent, a priest with an open mind, and a unique black cat.
A fun little book! I remember watching the Disney movie as a kid and liking it, Escape to Witch Mountain has always been among my favorite Disney liveaction films, so when I saw this book at my local library, I had to give it a try.
I expected to like it, but I ended up simply adoring it, It's without a question one of the best books I've ever read the plot is simple but not simplistic and the element of suspense was terrific.
Most of all, Escape to Witch Mountain touches on deep themes such as sense of belonging, hating people without justification, and even stewardship of the planet.
Its profound questions will haunt you long after the Escape to Witch Mountain's end, As you can already tell, I highly recommend this book, Read it as soon as you get the chance!
Side note: if you've watched the movie, there are some major differences.
But unlike other instances when I've both read a book and watched the film adaptation, I don't necessarily hate the differences.
Yes, I prefer the book, but the movie keeps the mood intact I appreciate both, Tony and Tia are orphans that have no memory of their past, But because they have supernatural powers, they are sure that they come from a strange place, Tony is an expert in telekinesis, and Tia's strengths include the ability to unlock any door by touch and communicate with animals.
They also can talk to each other via ultrasonic speech,
When Lucas Deranian shows up claiming to be their uncle they start to get suspicious, With the help of Catholic priest, Father O'Day, they escape New York and head to the Blue Ridge Mountains, The stress of outwitting Deranian has started to bring back some old memories and they think they will find their missing family once they get there.
This is a quick fun read for children, written in, so I'm not going to judge it the way I would a modern YA fantasy for older children.
The story is simple and more effort is put into the trip to Witch Mountain, rather than exploring the children's abilities.
It brought back some nice memories of sitting in the living room, watching the movie with my daughter back in thes.
An oftenoverlooked pageturner following siblings Tony and Tia as they flee from a mysterious man claiming to be their uncle, with the unlikely assistance of a priest and a cat.
I adore Disney'sadaptation of this story, but the original book is also quite a good adventure/mystery tale, Tony, Tia, and Father O'Day are all easy to like, and the settings are wellrealized and advance the plot and atmosphere.
I do think it should have been longermy copy has justpages, because some elements really need more development, The main villain is a rather nebulous figure, which may or may not be intentional, He is clearly a threat to Tony and Tia, but he never seems like a fully realized character, There is also quite a lot of infodumping towards the end as the kids suddenly recall more and more of their past, but the ending is effective and somehow bittersweet.
Disney may have refined Key's characters and streamlined the storytelling, but the source material is still very worthy of attention.
It's a fairly somber and maturely written story, with a hopeful ending and characters you will come away feeling glad for.
Not a bad introduction to sci fi genre but not the best one either,
While the idea about the kids with special abilities escaping to the witch mountain to find their kind was pretty good the character if Tia is pretty annoying and them remembering their past wasn't too well developed.
Still enough action for a middle schooler to enjoy,
As an adult it is interesting to read political references considering the time when it was written, And it is a bit confusing, Somehow the author sees both communism and money as evil, I wonder if he knew what communism was considering that what he wanted sounded like socialism, .