15-year-old Wisty Algood and her 17-year-old brother Whit are woken in the middle of the night when members of the New Order (a corrupt government organization that is taking over the entire world) invade their home. The siblings are accused of being a witch and wizard, which is news to them as they’ve been raised without any knowledge of their true identities.
The New Order, led by an evil man called The One Who Is the One, imprison Whit and Wisty. They’re trapped in horrible conditions, having to run through a hallway lined with hungry beasts to get any food. The jail has properties to keep their powers at bay, but the siblings discover that their magic is still in full force. They surface at random, usually during times of intense anger or fear.
They eventually find a portal to the Shadowland, a dangerous land of the undead. Whit's dead girlfriend, Celia, guides them through it to a portal to a place beyond the New Order, back in the normal world. They join a rebellion against the New Order, quickly departing on a mission to save more children imprisoned by the New Order, but intending to save their parents. Their parents are not found there, but many kids are saved. They return to their old home, and meet illusions their parents that really explain who they are and some other stuff. They go to defeat the New Order and end up almost being executed.
(Yes, I cropped and added a bit from this site: | Suite101
Witch & Wizard by James Patterson.)
The next known event is when Wisty is executed in a New Order City, but it is in fact a girl named Margo, an important Freelander. Whit, who saw the death, loss hope until Wisty lights up on fire in teh crowd with her own anger. . Whit and Wisty escape the New Order and head through a portal. They come out in a different part of the city.
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 agree and continue on. Whit and Wisty are assigned to a sneak into at a New Order jail. They manage to make it in and out alive, but don't rescue the kids.
That night, they visit a Resistance concert, where Wisty learns her gift in music. She describes being up on stage as a type of euphoria, a high.
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 is control over fire. After some help from Byron Swain, they get trapped in a frigid room for their final hours, but they 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 they look on in horror. Whit decides they should go to Mrs. Highsmith's home again.
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, but The One's power is almost godlike. Wisty and Whit eventually surrender to The One.Their parents are executed. Celia appears and freezes time so that Wisty can escape. (this bit is edited from Wikipedia )
At teh next known events, Wisty has the blood plague, and Whit is trying to find a safe house. He is terrified that Wisty won’t survive. Whit is lucky to find refuge with a precocious and worldly seven-year-old, Pearl Marie, and her rebellious family. Hiding in their basement, Whit uses his magic to perform a healing spell over the dying Wisty just in time. While Wisty recovers, the siblings celebrate the forbidden holiday with Pearl’s family before continuing on their mission. Whit and Wisty soon learn that they must separate to go on dangerous journeys. Wisty needs to confront The One by herself while Whit is in the Shadowland. They eventually fight the One together, defeating him and fulfilling the prophecy. And no, i will never learn to be concise.
Thsi portion was adapted from a TeenReads summary.
