The Amulet of Samarkand
by Jonathan Stroud
The djinni Bartimaeus is summoned by an ambitious young magician, Nathaniel, and sent off across London to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the sinister Simon Lovelace. A whirlwind of espionage, murder and rebellion ensues. (author website)
Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the age of five and sent to live as an apprentice to a master. Powerful magicians rule Britain, and its empire, and Nathaniel is told his is the "ultimate sacrifice" for a "noble destiny." (Goodreads synopsis)
Content Notes:
Flawed protagonist, nonhuman morality, trickster elements, occult elements, demons, physical and mental abuse (age-appropriate descriptions), gross/scary situations (age-appropriate descriptions).
How These Live Book Clubs Work
Participation in the live book club includes access to a set of resources and activities as well as interactive components.
Participants receive
- A suggested reading schedule
- PDF reading guides with comprehension questions
- Vocabulary/reading activities
- Discussion board posts in our online classroom
- Writing/multimodal project prompts related to the reading
- An invitation to a live discussion
- A recording of the summary of the live discussion
- An optional feedback add-on for the final paper/project
- Rubrics for at-home feedback
Families are welcome to use as much or as little of the suggested resources and activities as they'd like to fit their interest and schedules.
(There is an option to add a Feedback Add-on for Final Projects at checkout.)
Ages:
9 - 13
Dates:
December 1-31, 2025
Live Meeting:
Friday, January 2, 2026
1:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM CT / 11:00 AM MT / 10:00 AM PT
Sessions typically last around 1 hour.
Those who cannot attend the live session will receive a recorded summary.
(Note: If there is high enrollment, additional live sessions may be opened to keep sessions small enough for meaningful discussion.)
Supplies:
- A copy of the book The Amulet of Samarkand (ISBN 9780786852550)
- Used and borrowed copies will work just fine! If your learner is going to participate in final projects and reading guides, I recommend having a physical copy even if they primarily read the audiobook.
- See Dayla Learning's affiliate Bookshop List
- Zoom account for live session
- Microphone and camera for live session (optional)
- PDF reader
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Access to printer if you want to print worksheets