Review: Krabat and the Sorcerer's Mill by Otfried Preussler

Krabat and the Sorcerer's Mill by Otfried Preussler. A Reprint of the Classic Novel.

The New York Review Children's Collection
Publication Date: September 2014
List Price: $17.95
ISBN-13: 9781590177785

Review: Ker-chunk! Ker-chunk! The mill goes on. Have you ever been turned into a raven at the blink of eye? Imagine being trapped in a creepy mill with a malevolent and mysterious owner. In the book, Krabat And The Sorcerer's Mill, the main character, Krabat, was created with careful consideration by the author of this wild adventure, Otfried Preussler. He used creative ways to bring this book to life, and make the readers lose their wits in this grand story.

Krabat And The Sorcerer's Mill has many twists and turns in the entire entrancing book. Krabat reaches a village called Schwarszkollm with two of his companions. For the past few nights, Krabat hears mysterious voices in his dream and hesitates on what will be the wisest decision to make about these strange voices. Should he tell his companions? He finally decides to follow the voices and he gets swayed around to an old mill that none of the villagers dare to go by. Knocking on the door of the mill, he thinks the mill is abandoned. So he decides to slip into the dark mill. He sees a light in a room, far back in the mill. The only source of light is a single candle. The candle is sitting inside a human skull, with a book on the bottom. With the little candlelight, Krabat sees a man with an eye patch muttering strange words in gibberish. Krabat tries to rush out of the mill, but before he has the chance, a cold and firm hand lays on his shoulder. The man with he eye patch is staring right at him! Before he knows it, Krabat is working at this mill with eleven journeymen accompanying him. They work the mill ground and repair the mill. For the first few weeks, Krabat feels safe, and thinks the apprenticeship is a great opportunity. He finally realizes that this is no ordinary mill and something wrong is happening when he is introduced to black magic by the master, the person with the eye patch. He also finds out that every year one miller dies and another one comes. What will happen to Krabat? Will Krabat die next?

I think Krabat And The Sorcerer's Mill is a very interesting fictional book about magic, trickery, mystery, humor, and romance. I loved the twists when you think something happened, but it isn't what it appears to be. For example, one of the journeymen tries to kill himself, but it didn't turn out how he interpreted. I loved how the author tries to use older time language to capture you in the book with dialect from the journeymen. The author uses some words, like hastily and linger, that might be hard for some sixth graders, but if you're advanced in reading, this is perfect for you. In my opinion, this book would be appropriate for either boys or girls because it has elements that would appeal to both genders. Girls might like the story line about the romance between Krabat and his secret lover. On the other hand, boys are usually more interested in the adventure and excitement of this book. I seriously couldn't put the book down. While reading this book, I found it almost impossible to resist knowing the end. The book features many mysteries. On countless occasions I would try guessing what was on the next page of the book. The wittiness of the book is also extraordinary. I especially liked Krabat's dreams about the eleven crows and what they symbolized. In conclusion, this book is perfect for almost any sixth grader, and can be associated with many genres that make it suitable for almost anyone. Krabat And The Sorcerer's Mill totally exceeded my expectations and I give it a ten out of ten.

Review written by Pavel (6th grade student).

We would like to thank The New York Review Children's Collection for providing a copy of Krabat and the Sorcerer's Mill for this review.

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