Witch & Wizard

Witch & Wizard

When a dystopian government controls every aspect of society, siblings Wisty and Whit Allgood may be the world's only hope in this magical beginning of James Patterson's Witch & Wizard series. The world is changing: the government has seized control of every aspect of society, and now, kids are disappearing. For 15-year-old Wisty and her older brother Whit, life turns upside down when they are torn from their parents one night and slammed into a secret prison for no reason they can comprehend. The New Order, as it is known, is clearly trying to suppress Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Being a Normal Teenager. But while trapped in this totalitarian nightmare, Wisty and Whit discover they have incredible powers they've never dreamed of. Can this newly minted witch and wizard master their skills in time to save themselves, their parents—and maybe the world? Praise for Witch & Wizard : #1 New York Times Bestseller "Young Patterson fans will be thrilled to jump into this new adventure."― VOYA "A fast, exciting fantasy adventure ... with wall-to-wall thrills and spills ... page-turning suspense, pace and invention, street smart irony and upbeat humour."― Books for Keeps Raves for the MAXIMUM RIDE series: #1 New York Times Bestseller Publishers Weekly Bestseller ALA Quick Pick KLIATT Editor's Choice VOYA Editor's Choice Book Sense Children's Pick An American Library Association 2005 "Teens Top Ten" pick "Fights and flights are non-stop in Maximum Ride . The writing is visual and cinematic--things that kids expect from their video games, TV cartoon shows and action movies." ― USA Today "[Patterson] delivers an action-packed cross between Gertrude Chandler Warner's Boxcar Children and Marvel Comics' X-Men ."― Booklist James Patterson is the world's bestselling author. The creator of Maximum Ride and Crazy House, he has donated more than one million books to students and soldiers, as well as millions of dollars to independent bookstores and school libraries. He lives in Florida with his family. Witch & Wizard By Patterson, James Grand Central Publishing Copyright © 2011 Patterson, James All right reserved. ISBN: 9780446562430 PROLOGUE YOU’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE Wisty IT’S OVERWHELMING. A city’s worth of angry faces staring at me like I’m a wicked criminal—which, I promise you, I’m not. The stadium is filled to capacity—past capacity. People are standing in the aisles, the stairwells, on the concrete ramparts, and a few extra thousand are camped out on the playing field. There are no football teams here today. They wouldn’t be able to get out of the locker-room tunnels if they tried. This total abomination is being broadcast on TV and the Internet too. All the useless magazines are here, and the useless newspapers. Yep, I see cameramen in elevated roosts at intervals around the stadium. There’s even one of those remote-controlled cameras that runs around on wires above the field. There it is—hovering just in front of the stage, bobbing slightly in the breeze. So there are undoubtedly millions more eyes watching than I can see. But it’s the ones here in the stadium that are breaking my heart. To be confronted with tens, maybe even hundreds of thousands, of curious, uncaring, or at least indifferent, faces… talk about frightening . And there are no moist eyes, never mind tears. No words of protest. No stomping feet. No fists raised in solidarity. No inkling that anybody’s even thinking of surging forward, breaking through the security cordon, and carrying my family to safety. Clearly, this is not a good day for us Allgoods. In fact, as the countdown ticker flashes on the giant video screens at either end of the stadium, it’s looking like this will be our last day. It’s a point driven home by the very tall, bald man up in the tower they’ve erected midfield—he looks like a cross between a Supreme Court chief justice and Ming the Merciless. I know who he is. I’ve actually met him. He’s The One Who Is The One. Directly behind his Oneness is a huge N.O. banner— THE NEW ORDER . And then the crowd begins to chant, almost sing, “The One Who Is The One! The One Who Is The One!” Imperiously, The One raises his hand, and his hooded lackeys on the stage push us forward, at least as far as the ropes around our necks will allow. I see my brother, Whit, handsome and brave, looking down at the platform mechanism. Calculating if there’s any way to jam it, some means of keeping it from unlatching and dropping us to our neck-snapping deaths. Wondering if there’s a last-minute way out of this. I see my mother crying quietly. Not for herself, of course, but for Whit and me. I see my father, his tall frame stooped with resignation, smiling at me and my brother—trying to keep our spirits up, reminding us that there’s no point in being miserable in our last moments on this planet. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m supposed to be providing an introduction here, not the details of our