Magic's Child    by Justine Larbalestier Order:  USA  Can Razorbill, 2007 (2007) Hardcover     Reviewed by Kerrily Sapet For fifteen-year-old Reason Cansino it's been a busy week. For starters, she discovered magic really existed, and now she has more power than she imagined possible. She can do anything she wants, including preventing people from dying. She can even live for centuries. She also finds herself pregnant and assaulted by a crazy, creepy magic ancestor. The cost for all this power and ability is losing her humanity and the ability to feel and experience any emotion. What's a fifteen-year-old child of magic to do? Magic's Child is the third in a trilogy. It follows Magic or Madness and Magic Lessons. In this episode, Reason Cansino needs to face some heavy-hitting magical questions. For magical people, the faster they use their magic, the sooner they die. They can have long lives by not using magic, but ultimately it drives them to insanity. One way to stay alive longer is by stealing magic from others, prolonging one's own life. In short, magic leads to greed and preying on others, despite its possible wonderful aspects. For Reason, matters come to a head when her ancestor infuses her with powerful Cansino magic, which her grandfather hungers after himself. Reason, along with her magical friends and grandmother, struggles to defeat him, while also saving Reason's mother who has been committed to Kalder Park, a home for the mentally insane. Reason has been given the power to turn a person's magic off, an important power woven throughout the book. She also wonders what is happening to the magical child within her. In Magic's Child, Justine Larbalestier creates a magical world filled with twists and turns. For those who love fantasy, this will capture the imagination. She grounds her magical characters by giving them real life characteristics, making them instantly human. Money, mental illness, love, and greed threaten to unravel the best and worst of them. In the end, Reason needs to figure out who she can trust and who she can't. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Teens books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews