Half Magic was a very cute book. Kudos to Leta for reinforcing the recommendation.

The NPR summary is a little inaccurate. Half Magic is the story of 4 siblings who are bored and facing a whole summer of boredom. Their father passed away a few years before the story begins, and their mother is raising them alone. The setting is the 1920s, but it feels more like the 1950s, which is when it was written. That said, it ages well.

The oldest daughter, Jane, finds a nickel-sized magic charm that gives the bearer half of anything they wish for — only it takes some mistakes and bizarre experiences to figure that out. Brother Mark accidently sends all of his friends half-way back from whereever they’ve gone for the summer, the whole group goes to a desert instead of a desert island, the cat half learns to talk, and because we need to learn moral lessons in children’s books, the kids manage to humiliate Sir Launcelot and almost get him exiled from King Arthur’s Court. Fortunately, Merlin steps in and saves the day, so Arthurian legends are saved.

I could have done without the moral instruction, but the book is very cute and imaginative, and I liked the characters.