Even witches have to retire from magic sometime. When Peter, Jennifer, and their four-year-old sister, Molly, visit the Eventide Home, they find just what their gran promised: a coven of kindhearted, retired old witches. But on the heels of their visit, the children themselves are visited--by a Pictish girl fleeing a massacre more than a thousand years earlier. Evil forces are hunting the Pictish child, forces that have tracked her across centuries, bent on fulfilling the dark designs of a single mysterious person in the Eventide Home.
While visiting relatives in Scotland, three children come to the aid of a refugee from the distant past, a young Pict girl escaping a massacre of her people.Gr 3-6-Thirteen-year-old twins Jennifer and Peter and their little sister Molly, introduced in The Wizard's Map (Harcourt, 1999), are visiting their grandparents in modern-day Scotland when they once again find themselves in the midst of magical events. Their Gran, an affirmed witch, introduces them to a kindly coven ensconced at the soporific Eventide Home for the elderly. One of the witches gives Molly a talisman that leads the children to a Pictish girl, who is fleeing through time from violence in her own ninth century. With the help of the children and the coven, the time traveler is able to return home and prevent some of the bloodshed. The action-paced plot is nearly as winding as the rain-drenched stone lanes of Gran's ancient village, but the important twists are all resolved in the tale's conclusion. The story has a good dose of humor, often provided by an obnoxious talking dog left over from the siblings' first adventure. The novel stands alone but is more enjoyable when read after Wizard's Map, especially for insights into the characters and an appreciation for the occasional references to events in it. Both books will appeal to fans of Susan Cooper's The Boggart (McElderry, 1993).-Beth Wright, Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, VT Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Gr 3-6-Thirteen-year-old twins Jennifer and Peter and their little sister Molly, introduced in The Wizard's Map (Harcourt, 1999), are visiting their grandparents in modern-day Scotland when they once again find themselves in the midst of magical events. Their Gran, an affirmed witch, introduces them to a kindly coven ensconced at the soporific Eventide Home for the elderly. One of the witches gives Molly a talisman that leads the children to a Pictish girl, who is fleeing through time from violence in her own ninth century. With the help of the children and the coven, the time traveler is able to return home and prevent some of the bloodshed. The action-paced plot is nearly as winding as the rain-drenched stone lanes of Gran's ancient village, but the important twists are all resolved in the tale's conclusion. The story has a good dose of humor, often provided by an obnoxious talking dog left over from the siblings' first adventure. The novel stands alone but is more enjoyable when read after Wizard's Map, especially for insights into the characters and an appreciation for the occasional references to events in it. Both books will appeal to fans of Susan Cooper's The Boggart (McElderry, 1993).-Beth Wright, Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, VT Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
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