Synopses & Reviews
What happens when a class assignment becomes a war of magic versus free will?
When Roland's teacher gives him an unusual assignment instead of a punishment for shoplifting, he thinks he is home free. All he has to do is find out what he can about a classmate, Jess Ferret, and report back to his teacher. But there is something less than straightforward about this request, and the more Roland learns about Jess, the more confused he becomes. Her house is too tidy, her parents are never home, strange books line the bookshelves, and, most intriguing of all, Jess is studying alchemy.
Roland struggles with these questions -- and with a sense that if he doesn't uncover the answers soon, something drastic will happen. When a sinister magician from Roland's past gets involved in the mystery, Roland realizes that he is trapped in a dangerous web of magic, power, and greed -- and there might be no way out.
Review
VOYA, 5Q4P ratingReaders who loved The Tricksters and The Changeover will be delighted with this novel -- it is vintage Mahy....[A] smart, thrilling tale of the supernatural.
Review
Kirkus ReviewsA thrilling ride
About the Author
Margaret Mahy has lived in New Zealand her entire life. A former children's librarian, she decided to become a full-time writer in 1980. From picture books to YA novels, the age groups for which she writes vary as much as the characters in her stories. She won the British Library Association's Carnegie Medal for The Haunting and The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance. An author whose books have received many accolades and praise around the world, Mahy was awarded the Order of New Zealand, the highest honor a citizen of that country can receive, and in2006 she was announced the winner of the International Board on Books for Young People's Hans Christian Andersen Award, given to a living author whose works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature.