The Apothecary (The Apothecary Series)

The Apothecary (The Apothecary Series)

By Maile Meloy

19 ratings 32 reviews 38 followers
Book 1 of 3 in the  The Apothecary Series
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 6 - 8Grades 3 - 8W4.975862
It's 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows - a fascinating boy who's not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies - Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster.

Together with Ian Schoenherr's breathtaking illustrations, this is a truly stunning package from cover to cover.

Publisher: Puffin Books
ISBN-13: 9780142422069
ISBN-10: 0142422061
Published on 2/12/2013
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 368

Book Reviews (33)

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Oh, and also (sorry, another spoiler alert) I hated when Benjamin and his dad made them forget everything, even the KISS!

OMG! This book is super good. It melted sense, but not really. Warning: if you want to read this book, there will be spoilers ahead. Anyways, Janie is a partially normal girl who lives in the U.S., in California. One day, there was a black car following her. She asked her parents about it. Then, her parents basically told her they were communists, and that the government was watching them. Also they were going to have to move to the U.K. So they move, and they get a pretty run down place. Janie starts going to school there, and meets Benjamin Brussels, the apothecary's son. Pretty soon, Benjamin asks her on a 'chess date'. Turns out it was for spying. Janie, who had sometime in the beginning of the book gone to the Apothecary's and heard Benjamin and his father arguing. Benjamin never wanted to be an apothecary. As the book goes on (sorry, I'm going to skip a bunch) they find out that the avian elixir works, three amazing scientists figure out how to stop/contain the atomic bomb, and they meet a pickpocket in jail (that's a long story), and they stow away on a bpboatat, being invisible. So pretty much, this book was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

This one is also on my bookshelf and had been sitting there for a whole. I'm pretty sure I should read it.

You must!

Acorn 23 Acorn 23

This book is great!

Quite possibly THE BEST FANTASY BOOK EVER!

The Apothecary is a book in which magical plants can change things. Jamie and Benjamin turn into birds to escape a mad professor, for instance. The story begins in California but soon moves to England. It's a little scary, but worth reading!

This book is so awesome!

The Apothecary is a slightly more down-to-earth Harry Potter fantasy book. I loved the overlay of British vocabulary and themes from ancient apothecary medicine. The lead character is a girl who develops feelings for a boy at the same time she is trying to save the world with him. It's naturally quite complicated : )

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