Posted on by TracyC

The Twin in the Tavern

TwinTavernThe Twin in the Tavern by Barbara Brooks Wallace, 1993.

Young Taddy has lived with his Aunt and Uncle Buntz in Virginia ever since he can remember. When they die during an epidemic, he is left completely alone and afraid that he will be sent away to a work house. Before his uncle dies, however, he tells Taddy something that gives him even more reason to be afraid. He tells Taddy that nothing is how it seems and that Taddy is not really their nephew. He says that Taddy will only learn the truth when he finds his twin, but he must beware because he is in danger. Unfortunately, he never says where Taddy’s twin is or what kind of danger he is in.

Before Taddy can decide what to do, a couple of thieves, Neezer and Lucky, come to rob the house because they heard that Mr. and Mrs. Buntz were dead. When they discover Taddy in the house, they bring him with them to Alexandria and make him work in their tavern. Taddy is only given scraps to eat and he must sleep under a table in the kitchen with another boy who works for Neezer called Beetle. However, by coincidence, Neezer and Lucky may have brought Taddy to the very place he needs to be to find the answers about his past and his true identity.

Danger seems to lurk around every corner in the city, and Taddy doesn’t know who to trust. Even when Neezer hires him out to work in the home of the wealthy Mrs. Mainyard and her two daughters, sinister characters surround him, from the suspicious Professor Greevy to the stern John Graves, who visits the family.  At one point, Taddy thinks that he’s found his twin, but the boy mysteriously vanishes. Will Taddy find his twin and the secret of his past, or will the danger that his uncle warned him about find him first?

This book was a BOOKLIST Editors Choice Book in 1993 and won the 1994 Edgar Allan Poe Award.  It is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction

This was one of my favorite mystery stories when I was a kid!  Orphans with mysterious pasts are staples of children’s literature and make for compelling mystery stories, and the addition of a secret twin makes it even better!  Secret twins can be somewhat cliche in stories, but this one is good because there’s an unexpected twist for Taddy that he never considered until the truth is finally revealed.

Many of Barbara Brooks Wallace’s mystery books involve sinister characters with hidden agendas and children who don’t know who to trust because they don’t fully understand the plot they’re caught up in.  This book is like that because Taddy doesn’t know the real source of danger to him.  Like other children in stories of this type, Taddy frequently depends on the help of other children because he doesn’t know which adults to trust.

The story is set at an unspecified time in the past, although it appears to be sometime in the 19th century.

Posted on by TracyC

A Ghost in the House

GhostInTheHouseA Ghost in the House by Betty Ren Wright, 1991.

At first, Sarah Prescott enjoyed her family’s new house.  The house wasn’t really new.  Other members of Sarah’s family had lived there before, but it was the first place where Sarah hadn’t had to share a room with her younger brother.  Then, Sarah’s Great-Aunt Margaret came to live with them, and everything changed, in more ways than one.

Aunt Margaret is the one who actually owns the house where Sarah and her family are living.  She’s is elderly and sick and has been living in a nursing home.  The rent that Sarah’s parents pay her pays for her care at the nursing home.  However, Aunt Margaret has been doing a little better, and she would like to come and live with the family.  Having her move in with the family would not only be good for her but for them because Sarah’s father has been in and out of work, and Aunt Margaret wouldn’t charge them rent or at least not much if they all lived together and they helped to take care of her.  However, it would mean some sacrifice on Sarah’s part.

Aunt Margaret had once slept in the beautiful room that Sarah has been using, and Sarah must give it up for her now that she will be living with them.  It’s difficult for her to deal with, but Sarah is also restricted on when she can have friends over because Aunt Margaret needs her rest, and the family’s lack of money means that Sarah won’t be able to go to the concert that everyone at school as been talking about.  These family problems and teen angst could be bad enough, but from the moment that Aunt Margaret moves in, strange and frightening things start happening that only Sarah and her aunt ever witness.

Whenever Sarah and Aunt Margaret are alone in the house, rooms get cold, and Sarah hears weird things like footsteps walking around when no one should be there and a girl’s voice singing that particularly unnerves her aunt.  Sometimes, Aunt Margaret’s things are moved around or broken, and there is something mysterious about an old painting that has been in the house for years.  Over time, Sarah begins to notice that the painting darkens, and sometimes she can see a man in the painting who wasn’t there before.  The presence of the painting also upsets Aunt Margaret, although she refuses to say why.  Although Aunt Margaret at first suspects that Sarah is the cause of some of the weird things that are happening, Aunt Margaret is the actual cause, and she is afraid to admit the dark secret from her past that has come back to haunt her.

A long time ago, when she was young, Aunt Margaret had a best friend called Anne, whose father painted the mysterious painting.  Anne had a very unhappy home life, and when the opportunity arose for Margaret’s family to adopt her, Margaret wasn’t sure if she wanted to share her home with her friend, although she cared for her a great deal.  Because of her hesitation, her parents decided not to adopt Anne.  In her old age, she admits that she was a spoiled girl.  Unfortunately, her friend went to live with other relatives and ended up dying in a fire, so Margaret never had a chance to make things right with her.  Although Anne’s death was a freak accident, Margaret felt guilty because Anne would have lived if her family had adopted her.  Anne’s father also blamed Margaret and her family for not doing more for his daughter, although it was his drunkenness and violence that ruined his home life and led him to give up his daughter in the first place.  Before he died, he threatened revenge against the family in some way.  Now, his vengeful spirit has found a way to use the old painting to reach Margaret once again, and unless Sarah can find a way to stop him, he will make sure that Margaret joins Anne in death . . . and possibly Sarah, too.  However, there is also Anne’s spirit to consider.  In life, Anne was the only person who ever stood up to her father.  Would she be willing to do it one more time for Margaret’s sake?

Part of the story is about being willing to sacrifice for the ones you love.  Years ago, Margaret hesitated to give up some of her pampered life for her best friend, and she regretted it forever after.  Sarah also comes to see how her earlier worries about giving up her room and about sleepovers and concerts were petty when compared to helping a relative who loves her.  She also sees how it’s important to do the right thing when there’s time because sometimes there is no opportunity to do it later.

In a way, I felt like the problem was solved rather easily, but there were some pretty scary incidents in the story and a failed attempt to get rid of the painting that brought some suspense.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC · 2 Comments

Midnight Magic

midnightmagicMidnight Magic by Avi, 1999.

The story takes place in Italy, toward the end of the Middle Ages.  Mangus, a formerly wealthy scholar and philosopher, is living under house arrest because the king believes that he has practiced black magic. Mangus was merely performing magic tricks to earn extra money, and in fact, does not believe in real magic.  However, the king is very superstitious and easily influenced by his scheming advisor, Count Scarazoni, who needed a scapegoat to distract everyone from his schemes.  Unfortunately, many people in the kingdom of Pergamontio believe that Mangus is a real magician with frightful powers.  Even Fabrizio, an orphan who is Mangus’s only remaining servant, believes that magic really exists.

When a messenger arrives, summoning Mangus to the castle to see the king, they are afraid that the king has reconsidered his decision to spare Mangus’s life. However, it turns out that the king is in need of Mangus’s help. He believes that his young daughter, Princess Teresina, is being tormented by a ghost, and he wants Mangus to use his magic to get rid of it.

Mangus again protests that he does not do real magic, but both the king and Count Scarazoni promise dire consequences if he fails to help them deal with the problem.  Mangus isn’t sure why Count Scarazoni has asked for his help because he knows that the count doesn’t really believe in magic, except perhaps as a way of appeasing the king.  The king promises that if Mangus can free the princess from the influence of the ghost, he will not only end Mangus’s house arrest but reward him with a generous pension.  Mangus has little choice but to agree to do his best, and the promise of the pension for his master convinces Fabrizio to do everything he can to make sure that Mangus succeeds, not only to save his master’s life but to restore his family’s fortunes.

But, what is the secret of the ghost?  Fabrizio believes in ghosts, even though Mangus doesn’t.  Princess Teresina insists that the ghost is real, appealing directly to Fabrizio to convince Mangus that it is. Adding to the mystery is the disappearance of the princess’s brother, Prince Lorenzo, and the murder of the princess’s tutor. Danger lurks in the castle, and conspiracies are around every corner. Could the troubled spirit really belong to the murdered prince?

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction

I love historical books and spooky mysteries, and this is both! The Italian kingdom where the story takes place is fictional, but it takes its inspiration from real kingdoms of the later Middle Ages and early Renaissance, with Machiavellian intrigue, power struggles, and arranged marriages, even for children, that could influence the balance of power and successions. (There is talk of a potential arranged marriage in the story, but no child marriages actually take place.  If a child is old enough for ghost stories and murder mysteries and isn’t too frightened by them, there is really nothing more concerning than that to prevent them from reading this book.)

Princess Teresina is one of the most intriguing characters in the book.  Although young, she isn’t a shrinking violet or anyone’s fool, and she’s definitely not a tea party and ball gown kind of princess.  Like real life Medieval princesses, she is the product of a family who came to power by the sword and maintains it by the iron fist in the velvet glove and some clever political maneuvering, although some members of the family are more clever about it than others.  Princess Teresina well knows the family she was born into and what’s expected of her as royalty, and she knows to be careful about who she trusts and what the consequences of trusting the wrong people can be.  Although apparently terrified by the ghost, the princess has a kind of toughness and shrewd determination to do what she thinks is necessary.  She seems to be smarter and knows more than most people give her credit, and Fabrizio often wonders just how much she really knows.

One of the best things about the story is that, as soon as you think you know what’s going on, you learn that there is more to the story. There are conspiracies within conspiracies!

Hint: If you like pseudo-ghost stories, spooky stories of the Scooby-Doo variety, where there are logical explanations for the supernatural phenomena … you won’t be disappointed.

Posted on by TracyC

Felicity Saves the Day

American Girls

FelicitySummer

Felicity Saves the Day by Valerie Tripp, 1992.

This is part of the Felicity, An American Girl series.

FelicitySummerPlantationFelicity’s grandfather is a wealthy man who owns the Kings Cross Plantation.  Every summer, Felicity and her family go to visit him there, and Felicity loves it.  Her grandfather teaches her a lot of things, like which plants can be used for food and medicine, and takes her for horse rides around his estate.

This year, while Felicity’s father and his apprentice Ben are minding the store at home,  Felicity has a special surprise.  As her grandfather inspects a group of horses that a friend wants to sell him, Felicity is stunned to recognize Penny, the horse she freed from an abusive owner in the first book of the series.  Penny is a little thin and dirty but otherwise well, to Felicity’s relief!  Her grandfather purchases Penny for Felicity and promises to keep her safely at his plantation so that Felicity can visit her and ride her regularly.

Felicity is happier than she’s been in a long time and writes an enthusiastic letter home to tell her father and Ben, but soon, she learns that Ben is not at home with her father.  Felicity and her siblings have set up a bird bottle, a special bottle that acts like a bird house for birds to nest in, and she checks it daily to see if there are any birds to show to her little brother.  One day, she finds a message in the bottle from Ben, pleading for help, along with a map to a place in the woods and Ben’s whistle.  When Felicity goes to the spot in the woods and blows the whistle, Ben comes out of hiding.

FelicitySummerBountyHuntersBen tells Felicity that he ran away from his apprenticeship to join the revolutionary army.  He wants badly to fight for the colonies’ freedom from England, but he had a bad fall while traveling and hurt his leg.  Felicity tries to convince Ben to let her get help for him and to return to her father to finish his apprenticeship, but Ben doesn’t want Felicity’s grandfather to find out that he’s there or why he ran away because he knows that he disapproves of the revolutionaries.  Because Ben kept her secret when she used to sneak out to see Penny, Felicity reluctantly agrees to keep Ben’s presence a secret for awhile, sneaking him some food and supplies.  She tells Ben that, while she thinks that standing up for what he believes is good, he’s going about it in the wrong way because breaking his apprenticeship was dishonest.

Then, Felicity learns that her father has placed an advertisement in the newspaper with a reward for anyone who can find Ben, and some rough-looking bounty hunters show up at the plantation to inquire about it.  Felicity knows that she must try to convince Ben to return on his own before he gets hurt worse than he already has!

A large part of the Felicity books is about taking responsibility and whether or not it’s right to break rules in the name of a good cause.  Felicity herself broke the rules to befriend Penny and later free her from a master who would probably have killed her.  This story raises the question of whether Ben’s form of rule-breaking is similar to what Felicity did or not.  Their situations and the reasons for their rule-breaking are different.  In her situation, Felicity had tried to behave as lawfully as she could until it became apparent that the only way to save Penny’s life was through rule-breaking.  In Ben’s situation, although he wants to help what he sees as a good cause, his rule-breaking isn’t strictly necessary, and he never tried to discuss his feelings with Felicity’s father and to work out an arrangement before running away because he thought that he already knew what Mr. Merriman would say.  Felicity points these things out to Ben, along with the fact that Ben is not in any real position to help the cause that he supports because he is injured, wanted, and in hiding.  He started on this venture ill-prepared and inconsiderate of the other people who depend on him back home and his own future, and while his belief in the revolutionary cause is genuine, he is also afraid of admitting his mistakes and needs to be urged to make things right.

In the back of the book, there is a section that talks about what people in Colonial America would do during summertime.  The weather in Virginia is hot and humid during the summer, and not everyone would get a chance to travel to the countryside, like Felicity’s family did.  The book talks about various ways colonists would use to cope with heat (keeping the kitchen with its fire separate from the house, eating in an open breezeway in the house, wearing lighter clothes, boys would go swimming although girls didn’t, etc.).  It also talks about life on Virginia plantations, including slavery.

Posted on by TracyC

Felicity Learns a Lesson

American Girls

FelicityLesson

Felicity Learns a Lesson by Valerie Tripp, 1991.

FelicityLessonGirlsThis is the second book in the Felicity, An American Girl series.

So far, Felicity has mainly been taught at home, learning to read and write and take care of basic household tasks, like cooking and sewing, from her mother.  However, Felicity’s parents have decided that it’s time for her to begin furthering her education.  Felicity fantasizes about studying Greek, Latin, and geography, like boys do in college, but girls of her time do not receive that kind of education.  Some girls take on apprenticeships, learning professions such as seamstress, which Felicity thinks might be exciting, but her father is a wealthy merchant, which means that Felicity will be educated as a gentlewoman, not as a girl preparing herself for a trade.  A gentlewoman’s education involves lessons in penmanship, fine stitchery, dancing, manners, and hostess skills.  Felicity doesn’t find that prospect as exciting.

Felicity starts taking lessons from Miss Manderly, a respected gentlewoman, in manners and the practical arts that girls from well-off families of her era were expected to know. Two other girls, a pair of sisters who have recently arrived from England, are also taking lessons from Miss Manderly, and at first, Felicity worries that they will know more than she does.  However, they are also young and have lessons of their own to learn.  The younger of the sisters, Elizabeth, becomes Felicity’s best friend.  However, Annabelle, the older girl, is disapproving.  She misses her old life in England and doesn’t think that anything in the colonies is good.

FelicityLessonAnnabelleThen, Felicity’s father declares that because of the tax on tea, he will no longer carry it in his shop. It leaves Felicity feeling conflicted about Miss Manderly’s lessons, which include the proper way to serve tea. She has started enjoying the lessons and doesn’t want to lose Elizabeth’s friendship, but she wants to support her father, too. Then, Annabelle criticizes Felicity for what her father said at one of the lessons, prompting Felicity to storm out angrily. She is doubly angry and hurt that Elizabeth didn’t try to defend her, making her doubt Elizabeth’s friendship.

At first, Felicity thinks that there is no way she can return to the lessons, but her mother convinces her that if there’s something that she really cares about (the lessons, Elizabeth’s friendship, supporting her father, etc.) she will find a way to work through the conflict rather than give up on it.  She also points out that some people aren’t as brave as others and find it more difficult to speak their minds and that Felicity should give Elizabeth another chance at friendship.  In the end, Felicity works out a compromise for her lessons using what Miss Manderly has already taught her, and Elizabeth finally finds the courage to tell Annabelle how she really feels about her behavior and the way she treats both herself and Felicity.

Each of the girls in the American Girls stories has her own personality, including strengths and weaknesses. Felicity is a spirited girl, but at first, she has a tendency to be too impatient and impulsive. Part of what she learns is the need take responsibility for her choices and to think things through before she acts.  Elizabeth, who is shy and easily intimidated by her older sister, learns that nothing will improve until she makes her true feelings known and that she has as much right as anyone else to be treated with respect.  Annabelle is a rather self-centered individual and is genuinely surprised when Elizabeth finally stands up to her.  In some ways, Annabelle is unfortunate because she does not find a friend at Miss Manderly’s like her sister does, but readers will recognize that Annabelle’s lack of friends is partly her own fault because she is deliberately antagonistic and does not try to earn Felicity’s friendship.

In the back of the book, there is a section that explains more about how children were educated in the American colonies around the time of the Revolutionary War.  Other good books on this topic are Going to School in 1776 and Colonial Crafts.

This book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Meet Felicity

American Girls

MeetFelicity

Meet Felicity by Valerie Tripp, 1991.

MeetFelicityPennyThis is the first book in the Felicity, An American Girl series.

Felicity, or Lissie as her family sometimes call her, is the daughter of a prominent store owner in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1774.  Sometimes, her father allows her to help in the shop, which is something that she enjoys.  However, that has happened less since her father took on a new apprentice named Ben Davidson.  Ben is fairly quiet and shy, and Felicity is only just getting to know him.  She sometimes envies boys for the more exciting opportunities they have while she has to help with more routine chores, like sewing, at home.

One thing that Felicity loves more than anything else is horses.  One day, she goes with Ben while he makes a delivery to Jiggy Nye, the tanner.  Jiggy Nye has a new horse that he says he won at gambling.  However, Jiggy Nye is cruel to any animal he gets, and Felicity fears for the beautiful horse he now has.  When Felicity tries to see the horse, which she calls Penny because of the color of its coat, Jiggy Nye drives her away.

That the horse is a fine animal and that Jiggy Nye is treating it badly are obvious, but at first, there doesn’t seem to be anything that Felicity can do about it.  Then, Jiggy Nye shouts at the horse one day that it’s worthless because he can’t handle it and that he’d give it to anyone who can ride it.  Taking Jiggy Nye at his word, Felicity sets out to tame Penny.

MeetFelicityRidingEvery morning for about a month, Felicity sneaks out of the house early, dressed in a pair of breeches that she borrowed from Ben without his permission.  She goes to visit Penny and gradually gains her trust.  When Penny finally allows her to ride her, Felicity thinks that she has won ownership of her, but Jiggy Nye accuses her of theft and takes back the horse.  He denies that he ever promised to give her to anyone who could ride her, although Felicity’s younger siblings agree that they heard him say so.

Felicity fears more than ever that Jiggy Nye will kill Penny, but now that she no longer has a chance of getting her from Jiggy Nye for herself, can she find another way to give Penny her freedom?

There is a section in the back of the book that describes life in Colonial America, particularly in Williamsburg, Virginia.  It also mentions the Colonial Williamsburg living history museum.  Another book about life in Colonial Williamsburg, with photographs from the living history museum, is Mary Geddy’s Day.

This book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System

MSBSolarSystem

The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole, 1990.

Ms. Frizzle’s class is planning a trip to the planetarium as part of their lesson about the solar system, but of course, their magic school bus has other plans.  When they get to the planetarium and find out that it’s closed for repairs, the bus sprouts rockets and takes them on a real trip through the solar system.

MSBSolarSystemBlastOff

This time, the class is accompanied by Arnold’s visiting cousin, Janet.  Janet is a show-off who brags constantly about everything, making up stories when she has nothing real to brag about.  She gets on the other kids’ nerves, but when they’re separated from Ms. Frizzle because she got out of the bus to fix a taillight broken in the asteroid field, Janet takes charge, using Ms. Frizzle’s lesson plan to continue the field trip, eventually figuring out how to turn the bus around to rescue her and get back to Earth.

MSBSolarSystemMoon

All through the book, there are facts about the sun, the moon, and the planets in the solar system from the students’ reports.  Each time they stop at a planet, a scale shows the difference between Arnold’s weight on Earth and his weight on each planet.  The book considers Pluto to be a planet because it was written before its planet status was reconsidered.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

MSBSolarSystemRescue

Posted on by TracyC

Cranberry Autumn

CranberryAutumnCranberry Autumn by Wende and Harry Devlin, 1993.

CranberryAutumnPic1School is about to start, and Maggie and her grandmother realize that they’re short of money.  Maggie needs new school clothes, and her grandmother needs a new coat.  They know that some of their neighbors could also use some more money, so Grandmother suggests that they hold a sale.  Some of them have some antiques and other interesting old items that they could sell.

Mr. Whiskers tries to help, but he doesn’t have anything really interesting to sell.  At least, nothing Grandmother thinks that anyone would buy.  He’s disappointed because he really wants to help.

Mr. Grape, a greedy and dishonest neighbor of Mr. Whiskers, attends the sale and decides that he wants a pair of beautiful antique Staffordshire china dogs that Grandmother is hoping to sell for $200.  When he devises a scheme to cheat Grandmother and get the dogs for much less money, Mr. Whiskers gets his chance to help and to turn the tables on Mr. Grape.

As with other Cranberry books, this one includes a recipe that uses cranberries: Cranberry Squares.

CranberryAutumnPic2

CranberryAutumnRecipe

Posted on by TracyC

The Best School Year Ever

BestSchoolYearThe Best School Year Every by Barbara Robinson, 1994.

This year at school, Beth’s teacher has assigned everyone a year-long project to think about good points about their classmates, but it’s difficult when one of your classmates is Imogene Herdman.  The Herdmans are generally awful.  They lie, steal, set things on fire, bully other kids, and have been kicked out of almost every building in town for one reason or another.

Mr. Herdman deserted the family years ago, and Mrs. Herdman works long hours at the shoe factory, so the six awful Herman kids are left to do pretty much anything they want most of the time, even if what they want to do is to walk off with Louella’s baby brother Howard and draw pictures on his bald little head and charge other kids a quarter to see the amazing “tattooed baby” like some kind of sideshow freak.  It’s difficult for the adults in town to tell them off because they never listen or punish them because no punishment ever seems to stick.  Mostly, when the Herdmans are around, the adults seem to focus on damage control.

So, Beth struggles to find anything good to say about awful Imogene, the oldest girl in an awful family, but throughout the school year, Beth does begin to notice that Imogene does have other sides to her personality.  The book is more of a collection of short stories about the Herdmans’ various antics and escapades and Imogene’s role in them than one single story as Beth thinks about the things Imogene does.  Imogene can’t really be called “nice,” and she definitely causes her share of chaos, but she does have occasional moments when she’s helpful or does something in the name of justice, like giving her old blanket to Louella’s little brother to replace the one he lost so he wouldn’t be sad.

Some of Beth’s compliments to Imogene at the end are somewhat generic because Beth struggles to get around some of Imogene’s genuinely awful behavior, but when she considers what Imogene’s best trait is, she finds something that really captures Imogene’s spirit, a quality that Imogene genuinely admires and may lead her on to better things in her life.

This is the second book in The Herdmans Series.  The books are funny because of the chaos that the Herdmans cause wherever they go, although you can’t help but feel a little sorry for them at times, too.  It’s part of that awful dilemma when you think that someone deserves a good spanking for what they’ve done but, at the same time, you see that it wasn’t entirely their fault.  While the Herdmans are responsible for the things they do, they’re also victims of neglect.  Their parents aren’t really raising them, and the other adults have mostly given up on them.  They do what they do because they can and because no one is there to make sure that they’re doing the right thing.  No one even really expects them to do the right thing, so if they do something right, it’s completely up to them.

Beth’s observations about Imogene show that there is hope for her.  Imogene has some good traits as well as bad ones, and occasionally, she does do good deeds as well as bad.  Beth realizes that Imogene could do some great things in her life because of her resourcefulness (a quality that Imogene likes when Beth points out that she has it), but she realizes that what Imogene eventually turns out to be is still in her hands, whether she uses her abilities to rob banks or run for President.  Adults will know that Imogene’s reality is likely to be something in the middle, but the point is that Imogene has more good points than it appears at first and more possibilities in her life than just being a trouble-making Herdman.

As in the first book in the series, there is also something of a contrast between Imogene and Beth’s friend Alice.  Alice is the perfect child (at least in her mother’s eyes, and her mother lets everyone know it), but she is also often shallow, bragging up her looks, talents, and perfect behavior to get attention and feel important (which is what Beth thinks is really the best compliment to give Alice because it’s the one she would most value).  When Alice is nice, it’s not so much because she is a nice person as she likes the praise she gets for doing it.  Really, neither Alice nor Imogene are especially nice; they’re just not nice in different ways and for different reasons (although both have good points, too, which is the point of the story).  When Alice gets a compliment, she sees it as merely her due for her perfection, but for Imogene, compliments come as a surprise because she doesn’t hear them much and she knows that she is far from perfect.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive (multiple copies, actually).

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

Journeyman Wizard

JourneymanWizardJourneyman Wizard by Mary Frances Zambreno, 1994.

This book is the sequel to A Plague of Sorcerers.

Jermyn Graves has finished his apprenticeship and is ready to move onto his Journeyman studies.  As a Spellmaker, an especially rare type of wizard, he really needs to study with a Master Spellmaker, and for years, there has only been one in the Wizard’s Guild: Lady Jean Allons.  Jermyn’s current teacher, Theoretician William Eschar, once studied under her himself.

Mistress Allons is a formidable old woman, and Jermyn is nervous about going to live with her and completing the next part of his training. Master Eschar says that she is strict but an excellent teacher, and he has fond memories of her from his own youth.  However, much has changed for Mistress Allons since those days.

Mistress Allons lives in her manor house in the small town of Land’s End with her widower son-in-law, Duncan, and her granddaughter, Brianne, who is only a little younger than Jermyn himself. Since the death of her only daughter, Annalise, in a mysterious accident during a magical experiment, Mistress Allons has not really practiced magic and no longer even keeps a familiar.  As Jermyn soon learns, everyone in Land’s End is still haunted by Annalise’s death.

Although Brianne has magical talent, both her father and grandmother refuse to let her study magic.  In defiance and because her talent will not allow her to leave magic alone, Brianne has taken to studying magic with a local Hedgewitch, Maudie.  Hedgewitches, or Wise Women as they call themselves, practice a very natural form of magic, but it can also be very dangerous because of its raw, undisciplined nature.  Although magical accidents are usually rare, that type of magic is more prone to them than the more formal kind that Jermyn is studying.  Jermyn tries to convince Brianne of the danger, but Brianne sees it as her only hope for learning anything, in view of her father and grandmother’s opposition.

Jermyn is not there for very long before Mistress Allons herself dies, the victim of another strange magical accident. Was it really just a terrible accident, or was it actually murder?  Jermyn struggles to find the answers while some people believe that he may have been responsible for Mistress Allons’s death himself.

I enjoyed the fascinating combination of mystery and fantasy in this short series.  While Jermyn’s magical studies are fictional, the book has some interesting insights into cross-disciplinary studies as Jermyn comes to understand something that Mistress Allons was trying to explain to him about using lessons from art and science to solve magical problems because different fields of knowledge are connected and the principles of one discipline have some bearing on the other.

There is also something interesting that Jermyn says to the evil wizard who is responsible for everything about how he can’t really do all the things that he thinks he can do (specifically flying) because the kind of drugs that evil wizards use to boost their powers also cause hallucinations.  When I was in college, I did a report about witchcraft trials, and some of the plants used by supposed “witches” in their potions also had hallucinogenic properties, which is probably the origin of the belief in flying witches.  Just an interesting little cross-over from real history.