Witch and Wizard (Witch & Wizard, #1) - James Patterson,  Gabrielle Charbonnet
The New Order has taken control of the government. The One Who Is The One has passed new laws that severely inhibit the citizens. Art, music, free expression, imagination, and magic are illegal and if you are caught participating in any of these activities you will be put in prison for rehabilitation or, worst case scenario, executed.Whit and Wisty, brother and sister, are roused out of a good night’s sleep when the police bust into their home and arrest them. They are taken to a prison where they find it filled with nothing but other children. Whit and Wisty are pushed to the limit and their magical abilities are revealed without them even knowing they possessed them. It turns out that Whit is a wizard and Wisty is a witch. For this, they should be executed, but The One Who Is The One wants some information from them first.Whit and Wisty find out their parents have been sentenced to death, but have managed to escape from capture. The make it their mission to break out of prison and find their parents. With the unexpected help, they manage to get out of their cell and begin their life on the run.Basically, this is the rest of the book. The reader never gets to witness, which I was really hoping to, the condition of the outside world for the everyday citizens. I wanted to see what their lives were like under the oppression of the new leader. Instead, all we get to read about are Whit and Wisty running from authorities through secret passageways – away from the eyes of the townspeople.The ending of WITCH & WIZARD leaves it COMPLETELY open for a sequel – so much so that it doesn’t even come full circle and solve even one problem, but just leave off for the next installment.This is officially my last James Patterson book. I really had high hopes for WITCH & WIZARD. The sample chapter in the back of DANIEL X: WATCH THE SKIES sounded so good. The problem is, the first chapter is about the only good part of the book.FYI – Gabrielle Charbonnet has published many books, but mostly for Disney and Baby-sitter’s Little Sister books.