The Pendant Trilogy consists of The Gemstone, The King’s Jewel, and The Poisoned Emerald.  This is a remarkable series because it is written by teenaged twins who, according to the bio on Amazon, attend high school in Ontario.  They should be commended for following their love of reading and writing by publishing a book for other teenagers.

The Gemstone begins with the main character, Arica, attending a new private school along with her cousins Janine, Jessica and Joseph.  All three possess inherited magical gifts, but only Arica is completely clueless about her magical heritage; her magical background having been concealed by her mother who was intent on protecting her from the dangers of magic.  Faced with a headmistress with malevolent intent, and roommates and other peers who may be either friends or foes, Arica and her cousins must survive while protecting heirloom magical gemstone necklaces from theft.  During these trials, Arica, who is otherwise a clueless ninth-grader, reluctantly rises to a leadership role and with the help of her cousins and others who become allies slowly learns the truth of her magical inheritance.  The same malevolent forces fought by Arica, her cousins and her friends in The Gemstone persist in different threatening forms and hideous activities in The King’s Jewels and The Poisoned Emerald.  The authors have left plenty of opportunity to expand the trilogy into multiple volumes.

Written by peers, this is a fine fantasy selection for middle-school and lower high school students.  The plot is a simple straight-forward good-v-evil scenario which is sufficiently imaginative to provide good entertainment.  While some of the characters and situations may seem elementary or somewhat implausible to adult readers, it should be remembered that these books were not written for adults.  The descriptions of objects and locations are rich and detailed; often entertaining in and of themselves.  The choice of words and dialog are simple, but seem stilted and awkward, not at all how I would expect ninth-graders to talk in America; however, the authors are Canadian, and the main characters have recently moved from England to Canada to attend a new school, therefore, a British influence accents the dialog.

Overall, I feel The Pendant Trilogy is a great start toward a writing career for the authors, Sarena and Sasha Nanua, and an entertaining fantasy selection for middle-school aged students…perhaps a good Halloween read.