Featured Book of the Week: Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Monday, November 9, 2015


Featured Book of the Week
Iron Trial
by 
 Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial.

Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail.

All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him.

So he tries his best to do his worst -- and fails at failing.

Now the Magisterium awaits him. It's a place that's both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come . . .

From the remarkable imaginations of bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare comes a heart-stopping, mind-blowing, pulse-pounding plunge into the magical unknown.



About the Authors

Holly Black is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), The Modern Faerie Tale series, the Curse Workers series, Doll Bones, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Magisterium series (with Cassandra Clare) and The Darkest Part of the Forest. She has been a a finalist for an Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award, the Mythopoeic Award and a Newbery Honor. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret door. 

To find out more about Holly Black check out her web site.


Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.

Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and  which later inspired her current pen name).
After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.


Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her two cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.

To find out more about Cassandra Clare and her books check out her web site.

15 Delicious Comments:

Kelly Collins -hixon middle said...

This has been one of my favorite books so far. With lots of suspence and action this book was pretty much perfect for me. In this book the main character has to decide between what his father had always told him and the new fantasies he is facing.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous-

I'm excited to read this book. I love magic and I can't wait to see how Callum gets out of the situation he is in. Books like this are my favorites.

Hazelwood Central Middle School

Anonymous said...

anonymous-

I'm looking forward to reading this book. I love fantasy and magical books, and I can't wait to read about Callum's journey!




Hazelwood Central Middle School

Anonymous said...

I really like this book but I don't think I will read the next one.

Anonymous said...

This book is amazing all the magic and mystery is pretty cool can not wait to read number 2

Anonymous said...

Hazelwood Central Middle
Callum is what????
What he is will shock you and what he does at the end will shock you even more.

Caroline From Hixson said...

I love The Iron Trial! It is action packed and really has a great twist! The end events really made me think hard and wonder how well we know ourselves and how well others know us.

Anonymous said...


The Iron Trial was so exciting. There were so many cliffhangers and the resolution makes you want to throw the book at the wall... in a good way. I definitely recommend it.

Hazelwood West Middle School

Anonymous said...

I was suprised that the mom wanted the child to be dead!
Fort Zumwalt North Middle School

Anonymous said...

I am looking forward to reading this book! I want to find out if Callum fails the Iron Trial, and if he fails to fail, what he does about it!

Fort Zumwaldt North Middle School student

Anonymous said...

I thought that this book was really cool. Some chapters made me want to keep on reading. The ending was very suprising.

Fort Zumwalt North Middle

Anonymous said...

-Ladue Middle Schools-
I really loved The Iron Trials because it had something that magic and odd. It showed a character, who has never wanted to be in the spot he is in, told by hi father that it was bad. Only to find it is not so bad. The book contains suspense and excitements with the occasional scare and trill. I loved The Iron Trails and would like to read the next book!

Unknown said...

Rachel-Windsor Middle School
I love this book because it reminded me of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.

Anonymous said...

I loved this book. It is my favourite one that I have read so far. It reminded me of Harry Potter.
Brittany Woods Middle School

Anonymous said...


Cross Keys Middle School

I've read just about every single one of Cassandra Clare's books ( and even own some), so I was really excited to read this book! Cassandra Clare and Holly Black really work well together, so I plan to read the rest of the series. I'll even try to hunt down some books that Holly Black wrote independently. :)

 
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