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The Triskaidek by Basil Sprig Camp Fae Book
book review by Marjetta Geerling
"It was a scream that became more faint as she fell... As high as this tree was, she knew she didn't have more than a few seconds to figure out how to fly."
When Alley finds herself accidentally attending Camp Fae, the place where fairies send their children to learn magic, she doesn’t even believe in magic or fairies. However, a strange event on her Triskaidek—the thirteenth day of the thirteenth month of her thirteenth year—makes her believe the camp counselor when he tells her that she is, in fact, a fairy. Alley is entrusted with a special mission that has her juggling her human friends at a neighboring camp, the new rules and traditions of Camp Fae, and her urgent quest to save a nearly extinct magical species, the Blimeys.
Although more careful editing would have focused the plot elements and improved the pacing, The Triskaidek is a fun-filled adventure for tweens and young teens. Sprig weaves the magical and real worlds together, leaping from discussions of diamonds as conduits for time travel to the computer search engine fgoogle that mixes human and fairy knowledge, in an entertaining way. As Alley struggles to figure out who she can trust, she encounters problems that magic can’t fix. Does the cute boy really like her or is he just manipulating her? But sometimes, magic is the answer and the reader gets to experience Alley's first attempts to fly, teleport, and time travel as she races to save the Blimeys. Alley’s intuitive understanding of how to work magic and ability to make friends gives Alley everything she needs to succeed at Camp Fae.