Skylar is a know-it-all who loves to show off her knowledge of magical history, no matter how obscure, and she's the best with actual magical skills. Oh, and he has a scar (a chunk taken out of his left ear) and green eyes. He's not the most talented, but he's got a knack for getting out of tight situations. For instance: you've got the hero of the story who, up until he becomes a familiar, didn't really know much at all about the world of magic. They're a fun series with plenty of action and adventure, but I couldn't help feeling that these characters were a bit, well, familiar. I read the first two books of the series recently, and I came away with mixed feelings about them. And, as you might expect, along the way they face tremendous obstacles, bond with each other, and learn some important things about themselves. But through a series of events, the three students are kidnapped, and it's up to the familiars to rescue them, magic or no. Although he's not magical himself, he uses his wits and a bit of luck to pass as a familiar because he's enjoying this life where he's well-fed and watched over. He meets two other young students and their familiars: Skylar the blue-jay (whose power is casting illusions) and Gilbert the tree frog (who can see visions in puddles, albeit unreliably). That kicks off Aldwyn's entrance into the world of magic.
Despite all the amazing options presented to him - chameleon crabs that camouflage themselves and their wizards, riding lizards that shrink the human down to riding size, healing ravens - Jack takes an immediate liking to Aldwyn, presuming him to be a telekinetic bicolor cat from Maidenmere. Enter Jack, a young wizard shopping for a familiar. But when he finds himself hunted by Grimslade, a persistent bounty hunter hired by the fishmonger, he takes refuge in a wizard's shop, hiding in a cage among a bunch of magical animals.
First and foremost is Aldwyn, a scrappy alley cat in the town of Bridgetower who survives by his wits, stealing fish and scraps of food where he can get them. In this series for middle-grade readers, the animals are the focus and the humans become the supporting characters. The Familiars, by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, takes that idea and tweaks it a little. Depending on the particular mythology, some familiars help with casting magic, or may have some powers of their own, but they're usually there to assist the humans in some way, who tend to be the major characters in the stories. In the Harry Potter series, all of the kids have pets which seem a little bit like familiars, though they're never referred to as such. Cats are often associated with witches, and ravens are also a pretty common familiar. Familiars are animals, companions to wizards and witches that assist them with magic.
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