Witch and Wizard: The Gift

Witch and Wizard: The Gift is a novel by James Patterson with Ned Rust, released on November 4, 2010.

Plot

Whit is walking in a New Order city when he sees that Wisty is to be executed in the Courtyard of Justice. He races to save her, only to find that she has already been killed, once again being fooled by The One when he sees she's still alive after she sets herself on fire (which, for Wisteria Allgood, is a good thing). Wisty reveals that The One killed Margo, an important Freelander. Whit and Wisty escape the New Order and head through a portal. They come out in a different part of the City of Progress. Whit sees Celia on a billboard, who tells him to turn himself in to the New Order, that everything he's done is wrong. As Celia fades away, we see that Whit feels strongly that Celia wasn't really up on the board, and that she would never tell him to turn himself in. The One executes a soldier for failure to kill Wisty.

Wisty and Whit return to Garfunkel's, to big surprise, and dismay when the Freelanders learn that Margo is dead. After several tears are shed, Wisty convinces the kids that they shouldn't be beating themselves up about Margo's death, that she wouldn't want them to. The Freelanders accept this and continue on. Whit and Wisty are assigned to a quest at a New Order jail as Stephen and Sydney Harmon, a very powerful witch and wizard. They manage to make it in and out of the place, but don't rescue the kids.

After Whit and Wisty return, Whit shares with Janine, the Shaman of the group, a poem that he wrote about Celia, and Wisty destroys the romantic moment, telling Janine that Whit got the poem from their eighth grade English class.

That night, they visit a Resistance concert, where Wisty learns of her gift in music. She describes being up on stage as a type of euphoria, a high. Whit sees a fake New Order "rock group" who call themselves "the Nopes". He then sympathizes his feelings about writing a six-page poem about Wisty's death.

Wisty meets the Bionics, a popular New Order group, and their drummer, Eric, whom she finds very attractive. After almost getting caught by the New Order and using magic to get away, Eric and Wisty spend the night kissing and being together. Wisty wakes up in the morning to find her drumstick gone, much to her dismay, and she learns that Eric took it. Wisty, very angry, texts Eric, and eventually arranges a meeting at the City of Progress diner. But first she visits Mrs. Highsmith, the witch from the last book that almost got her arrested.

After the visit, Wisty goes up to the diner, only to learn from Eric that he took the drumstick because he was working for the New Order. Wisty and Whit are taken in to a New Order school.

The One continually tries to steal Wisty's Gift (which we learn is actually dominion over the element fire). After some help from Byron Swain, the kids get trapped in a frigid room for what looks like their final hours, but Whit and Wisty turn themselves into fish and escape the school. They return to Garfunkel's, and, taking some kids with them, go down to the abandoned war shelter. Garfunkel's, and the kids who were too scared to go with them, is then destroyed as the kids look on in horror and heartbreak. Whit decides they should go to Mrs. Highsmith's home again. He kisses Janine with very confused thoughts, obviously torn between Janine and Celia, and then returns to Mrs. Highsmith's home with Wisty.

The witch gives them a message from their parents that also says that they should turn themselves in, that they should just give up in their quest. The One then appears, infuriating Wisty, who screams at Mrs. Highsmith that "she told him they were there". With horror, Mrs. Highsmith tells the kids that The One has "mastered air, earth, and water", the other three elements, and we learn that the reason why he needed Wisty's Gift is because he wanted to control all four of the elements. Wisty and Whit learn that that they can conjure things up with their imagination, and that is the center of their magic. Wisty says that The One's power is almost godlike. Wisty and Whit eventually surrender to The One.

In the epilogue, Wisty and Whit's parents are executed, to Wisty and Whit's horror. Celia appears and freezes time so that Wisty can escape. The book ends with "to be continued", as did the last, with us unknowing of Whit's whereabouts, where Whit's going, or what Wisty has to do.

Characters

• Wisteria 'Wisty' Allgood - A rebellious fifteen-year-old who is shocked to discover her magical ability. Her main power is the ability to burst into flames at random moments, but she is also known to float in her sleep, shape-shift, and even glow radioactive green.
• Whitford 'Whit' Allgood - A eighteen-year-old 'All-American' athlete. He secretly struggles with depression after the unexplained disappearance of his girlfriend Celia. Whit is a wizard, with the power to conjure food, objects, and animals. He can also move objects with his mind, move at super speed, withstand a stun gun without pain, and is revealed to clairvoyant during the novel.
• Celia - Whit's girlfriend, who disappeared mysteriously months before the beginning of the book. She was killed by the New Order government but still exists as a Half-light, or ghost in the Shadowland.
• Byron Swain - A classmate of the Allgoods, who betrays them to the New Order government. Wisty turns him into a weasel (prompting her to call him the "Tattling Weasel" for the rest of the book), and he later decides to help the pair.He is also madly in love with Wisty and would do anything for her.
• Janine - The current leader of the abandoned warehouse at which the siblings temporarily stay. Her and Whit may have a future romance.
• Sasha - A Freelander the siblings meet first in the Shadowland. He later lies to them in order to enlist their help in a jailbreak. Sasha is lanky, with overgrown black hair, very similar to Fang from Patterson's bestselling Maximum Ride series.
• Mrs. Highsmith - A witch who is a friend of Whit and Wistys parents. She lives in The City of Progress in an apartment filled with stuff banned from the N.O. She helps Wisty with how to make her powers stronger and is unknown whether she is dead or alive. She is also the witch in the first book at the Cafe who accused Whit and Wisty of being a witch and wizard.
• The One Who Is The One 'The One' - Head of the New Order government. Despite being a figure of great power and authority, he conducts himself politely and with quiet dignity. It is strongly implied that he is an evil wizard, possibly on a mission to eradicate all his enemies (meaning the Allgoods). He is after Wisty's Gift, which is controlling fire. He can also control water, earth, and wind.

Next book

Like the first book, Witch and Wizard, it ended with the words "To be continued". In late 2010, James Patterson announced that there would be a third installment and it would be called Witch and Wizard: The Fire.

See also

• James Patterson
• Witch and Wizard
• Novel