The Witching Hour

Written by Jennifer Harris

Illustrated by Adelina Lirius

Tundra Books

978-1-77488-440-9

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

June, 2025 

 

For those who read fantasy or believe in the supernatural, the witching hour is that time, late at night, when entities like witches make their appearance. But for this family of witches, the witching hour is a little different: that unique hour that slips in between dinner and sleep when their littlest one is set to be put to bed. For them, this time of fussiness is as chaotic and rowdy as any time when other worldly creatures come out to play or cause mayhem. 

From The Witching Hour, written by Jennifer Harris, illustrated by Adelina Lirius

A lovely family of two witches, a small boy and a baby have just finished their meal when the chaos begins. After its bottle spills, the baby begins to cry which turns to caterwauls and then to crescendos. The little boy covers his ears, the black cat is alarmed, and the two witches start to implement an assortment of tricks to calm the baby.

From The Witching Hour, written by Jennifer Harris, illustrated by Adelina Lirius

They take turns, one rocking the child as they perch on a broom before the other takes it for a ride, bouncing on the broom like a pogo stick. The little boy takes the child in hand and does flying loop-de-loops to soothe the baby. When a wand is finally brought out, an owl from a magical parade of toys is just the thing to quieten the baby. For now, at least.

From The Witching Hour, written by Jennifer Harris, illustrated by Adelina Lirius

There are still routines to follow in that witching hour like baths and diaper changes and again the baby is having none of it. So new tricks come out. Snacks, songs, dancing, and even a bat are brought out to the crying child. The baby might not be amused but her big brother is enjoying everything from the music to the pink poodles and tries to help distract and entertain her.

From The Witching Hour, written by Jennifer Harris, illustrated by Adelina Lirius

As every parent and caregiver will know, the baby will eventually tire itself out–hopefully!–and finally, finally succumb to the exhaustion that caused such mayhem and misery.

 

Bedtime must be a special time for Jennifer Harris as her earlier book, The Keeper of Stars, highlights another getting-a-child-to-bed ritual, though with a far gentler story. But, The Witching Hour, as disquieting as it might seem, is actually a very sweet story about family coming together to help the youngest settle down. And though the strategies this family uses may be a little bit different than those your family might use–after all, very few of us have flying broomsticks and magic wands and bring bats to distract a baby–they are creative and diverse, and this family is willing to try anything. Surprisingly, Jennifer Harris never makes the story ridiculous or uproariously funny. She keeps it charming and familial and affectionate. Any parent or older sibling will understand and feel for this family at this witching hour.

 

Illustrations for The Witching Hour were created by Sweden's Adelina Lirius who used gouache, coloured pencils and digital application to  design a magical home of a wonderful witch family. From the spider web play pen to their hanging herbs and lush yard of fairies, frogs and flowers, Adelina Lirius has given Jennifer Harris's words a playground of colour and fascination.

From The Witching Hour, written by Jennifer Harris, illustrated by Adelina Lirius

 

Anything could happen 

in the witching hour.

 

Jennifer Harris is correct that anything can happen in the witching hour whether in a witches' home or that of a human family. But the aim of calming a baby and bridging the time between eating and sleeping is universal, though the approaches taken can be unique. Still a little magic can always help.

The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass

Written by Adan Jerreat-Poole

Dundurn 

978-1-45974-681-7

328 pp.

Ages 13+

September 2020

 

The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass is a book of contradictions. That beautiful cover belies the harshness of a girl cobbled from hawthorn berries, beetle shells, spider webs and glass and the darkness of the plot within. Of course, I should have been prepared when the titular girl stabs a man in his skull on page 3. At least you'll be prepared.

Eli is a witch's tool, created by the witch Circinae, whom she calls "Mother," to carry out missions for the Coven. She travels from the City of Eyes through the Vortex into the City of Bones to assassinate ghosts who've taken over the physical bodies of humans. But when Eli realizes she has killed a human rather than a ghost, she is unnerved, especially as it could result in her being "unmade." Surprisingly she is promptly sent out on another mission. Again something seems amiss. Fortunately, she makes the acquaintance of Cam and Tav in the human world who help her out when the Vortex prevents her from returning to her own world.

They take her to the Hedge-Witch, the leader of a group of rebels, who offers to help Eli if she would help Cam and Tav get around the City of Eyes. But there's much secrecy about their mission and even more confusion about who or what Tav is.

A boi who could see ghosts and wasn't afraid of Eli's strangeness, didn't run from the yellow eyes. Who could, with one touch, make Eli's bones sing and her hands tremble. (pg. 125)

What Adan Jerreat-Poole has created in The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass is a dark fantasy of two worlds, connected and not, as they seek control over self and others. But it's also a love story. As a witch's tool, Eli had found intimacy with Kite, an enigmatic witch and Heir to the Witch Lord. But when she meets Tav, Eli is confused and attracted to them. How can the charge she feels from touching Tav make any sense, especially as they seem to be more than human? Moreover, knowing that they are each tasked with missions that might challenge what the other is doing, both Eli and Tav tend to keep their secrets close to their chests. But, in the worlds of The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass, that's not unusual. Whether human, tool, witch or ghost, all seem to keep secret who they are.

Sometimes if you looked carefully, you could see the true colour of intention in the movements of the people who were supposed to love you. (pg. 15)

This is Adan Jerreat-Poole's debut novel and, with it, they have created contrasting worlds of chaos and fear, power and struggle. Their characters are complicated, not only because of their fantastical natures but also because of their personalities as reflected in their behaviours, including their desires and motivations. And they're all just trying to figure things out.

Eli's hand clenched and unclenched around the dagger as she warred with herself, caught between bloodlust and love, between past and future. (pg. 218)

Readers will need to wait until next May when the book's sequel, The Boi of Feather and Steel, is scheduled for release to learn what will happen to Eli, Tav, Cam, Kite and everyone in The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass. Until then, introduce yourselves fully to the darkness and the fantasy within The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass, knowing there's more to Adan Jerreat-Poole's worlds than meets the eye.

 

Peg Bearskin: A traditional Newfoundland folktale

As told by Mrs. Elizabeth Brewer

Adapted by Philip Dinn and Andy Jones

Illustrated by Denise Gallagher

Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides

978-1-927917-19-0

44 pp.

All ages

February 2019

Peg Bearskin may be big and ugly and hairy but she's clever and that gumption and canniness make all the difference to her life and those of others.

From Peg Bearskin, illus. by Denise Gallagher

Peg Bearskin is one of three daughters but, alas, her sisters are "pretty as ever the sun shined on" and Peg Bearskin is not. As they grow older, her sisters, like many people, want nothing to do with Peg but she persists in following them. It's lucky for them that she does as, when they spend the night at the home of an old woman, Peg's instincts and exploration lead her to discover the woman to be a witch who possesses a decanter that never empties, a lantern that shines for half a mile without fuel, and a swift horse with magic bells for wishing. Realizing that the witch intends to kill her sisters, Peg tricks the old woman and the three escape. 

When the three siblings get older, Peg goes to see a king with three marriageable sons. She promises the decanter to him if he'd allow her oldest sister to marry his oldest son. She only asks for a handful of pepper to achieve her task of acquiring the decanter for him. While the witch's old man uses the decanter, Peg throws the pepper at him and grabs the pitcher.  Similarly, she steals the lantern to secure a husband for her other sister. Finally, she does the same for herself, using a knife and saw to steal the horse with its magical bells.

From Peg Bearskin, illus. by Denise Gallagher

But, the third son is distraught to be married to Peg. Recognizing that perhaps making a wish on a bell might give him what he wants, Peg shares with him the secret of the bells, upon which he wishes for Peg to be beautiful. And, though the reader will see that Peg does not appear to be any different, the prince, who has turned big, ugly and hairy himself, sees Peg as "the most beautiful woman that water ever wet or the sun ever shined on."

Peg Bearskin may focus on Peg's appearance as defining how she is seen but it supersedes that characterization by showcasing how clever she is. She doesn't need to be beautiful in the same terms of her sisters, and Peg Bearskin justifies the phrase that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder because Peg is beautiful by her astuteness. Even in the end, when her husband wishes her to be beautiful, it's not her that must change. 

From Peg Bearskin, illus. by Denise Gallagher

This traditional Newfoundland folktale is derived from Mrs. Elizabeth Brewer's story told to a folklore student in 1976 and is part of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA) and shared in multiple editions of books on the folktales of Newfoundland. Philip Dinn and Andy Jones adapted it for a storytelling play in the late 1990s and several versions have been published over the years. This edition, illustrated by Louisiana artist Denise Gallagher, lends a folk art feel to the story. With its earthy green tones and beet red touches, Peg Bearskin becomes a true reflection of the folklife of Newfoundland while continuing to focus on the message that beauty should be accepted in its different manifestations. It's storytelling that can be heard in the Newfoundland vernacular of "mudder" and "et" and "spose" and in the supernatural elements of wishing for children, an evil witch, and magical phenomena. There is beauty in all of it and most of all in Peg Bearskin herself.

Julia Defiant: The Witch's Child Book 2

Written by Catherine Egan

Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

978-0-553-53335-4

464 pp.

Ages 14+

June, 2017

Julia Defiant, the sequel to Catherine Egan's Julia Vanishes (2016), the first book in her Witch's Child series, is as epic a fantasy as all her books.  There are battles of good vs. evil for power but amidst so much deception that it is hard to tell whom to trust, and Julia, who is still blaming herself for her role in the kidnapping of young Theo, doesn't even know if she can trust herself to do the right thing.

The core cast of characters from Julia Vanishes are still aiding and abetting Julia, the Fraynish girl who can vanish as well as  transport herself between locations and into a dark and burning other world called Kahge. Mrs. Och, one of the three immortal Xianren who’d been tasked with guarding and keeping separate the fragments of The Book of Disruption to prevent the overflow of magic, is leading the group in search of a monk named Ko Dan.  It is hoped that they can enlist Ko Dan to undo the magic he used to transfer the fragment of Gennady, another Xianren, into his baby son.   Theo, not yet two, does not know that he is at the centre of it all, with the third Xianren, Casimir, determined to reassemble the book and reestablish their immortality.

Mrs. Och’s plan is for the group to separate in Tianshi, the capital of Yongguo, and learn what they can. Julia resides with Mrs. Och, Theo and the boy’s mother, the witch Bianka, and Frederick the scholar in the modest Nanmu Triangle, while Julia’s brother Dek and her former lover Wyn live in the seedier Dongshui Triangle.  The others, Julia’s thieving compatriots–Esme, Gregor, Csilla–as well as the learned Professor Baranyi, pose as members of an aristocratic household in the Xihuo Triangle.

While their task is simple enough–find Ko Dan and save Theo from the fragment within him–there is much to learn, primarily about and by Julia.  When permission is granted by the grand librarian, Si Tan, for them to visit the Imperial Library, the search is on for clues to Ko Dan’s whereabouts but also, Julie learns when vanished, into Kahge and Julia’s powers.  At the Imperial Library, she is accosted by a witch who works magic on her, flooding her with visions, possibly memories, including one in which her mother worked with a two-spouted pot, similar to one she’d observed in a painting of the witch Marike.  This pot which she later learns is called the Ankh-nu may be a key to Julia’s heritage.

But Julia’s wanderings as she vanishes about Yongguo and into the horrific world of Kahge bring her more questions, though rarely answers.  Who is Lidari and why do the creatures of Kahge call out to Julia with this name?  Who is the Fraynish girl obviously under protection in the monastery?  And the biggest question is: Who can she trust? Mrs. Och who seems to want to help Bianka and Theo but shamelessly pulls life forces from Bianka and Frederick to strengthen herself?  The young man Jun to whom she is attracted and who has come to her rescue?  Her brother Dek who is acting less like himself because of the freedoms he now has in Yongguo?  Or Pia, the assassin who sees herself in Julia, knowing how they’ve been treated and the life Julia could have under Casimir’s contract?  Can Julia even trust herself to be there to save Theo when she’s already let him down at least once?

The constraints of a single post for a review of Julia Defiant suggest the story is much less than it is.  This space is far too meagre for me to acquaint the reader with its plot and still find room to applaud it sufficiently.  The plot and myriad of subplots, as well as rich contingent of characters, both of Frayne and Yongguo and Kahge, are too much for these few words.  I desperately want to tell you of Ragg Rock and her bunny; Silver Moya, Count Fournier and Princess Zara; the telling of stories to Theo; Dek’s new life with Ling; adorable Theo as he learns to walk, talk and do magic; and so much more.  This is especially so as it is all told in the opulent prose of Catherine Egan who can make everything sound, read bigger and better and more.

Stars, this boy.  Handsome, mysterious, quick on his feet, and now sweet.  I struggle not to give him a melty look. (pg. 81)

Even crushing on a boy reads powerfully.  This is how Catherine Egan writes. Every word is authoritative and woven with magic to create worlds that may have familiar elements–there is definitely an Asian feel to the world of Yongguo with its names, dress and customs–but are so distinct and extraordinary that nothing compares.  All I can say is that, having introduced Julia in Julia Vanishes, Catherine Egan's second book brings Julia into worlds where she can define herself and her power, so that she is never inconsequential again.  She will only vanish when she so chooses, making Julia Defiant fantastic in more ways than one. 

Julia Vanishes

Written by Catherine Egan

Alfred A. Knopf

978-0-553-52484-0

375 pp.

Ages 12-17

2016

I’ve always been on the Catherine Egan-bandwagon, an auspicious venue for readers of fabulous fantasy and struggles in other worlds. The Last Days of Tian Di, her trilogy  (Shade and Sorceress, 2012; The Unmaking, 2013: Bone, Fog, Ash & Star, 2014), took readers to imaginary lands of  Mancers, Faeries and Sorceresses and an exceptional evil vs. good conflict.  But now I’ve joined the ranks of fans of her Witch’s Child series, debuted with Julia Vanishes, who’ve recognized Catherine Egan’s latest high fantasy as something truly special, not unlike Julia herself.

Whilst miscellaneous persons are being murdered and their brains messed with after encountering a mysterious woman and her baby Theo, sixteen-year-old Julia works reconnaissance as the housemaid Ella at the home of the elderly and wealthy Mrs. Och.  After Julia’s mother Ammi was drowned as a witch in one of Prime Minister Agoston Horthy’s ritual Cleansings of those practising outlawed element worship and magic, Julia and her older brother Dek, a great mechanical tinkerer, were taken in by Esme who runs the criminal underworld. As part of Esme’s band of crooks, which includes Gregor and Csilla and Julia’s love interest, the artistic Wyn, Julia has been charged with staking out Mrs. Och’s household from within, watching the lady herself, as well as her guests Professor Baranyi, who had once been in prison for his heretical writings and continues to dabble in mysterious work with his assistant Frederick, and Mr. Darius whose bizarre behaviour and entrapment in the cellar draws her curiosity.  Thankfully Julia has an inane ability to vanish, to be unseen.

“There is a space I can step into, a space between being myself in the world and I know not what, where people’s eyes simply pass over me.” (pg. 7)

Julia’s vanishings allow her to learn of Mrs. Och’s smuggling of witches, and of strange experiments on the kind Mr. Darius, and of concerns that the murders and other mysterious goings-on indicate a search for  someone or something.  When Julia reports to their client, Pia, a cagey woman in goggle spectacles, that Mrs. Och has two new house guests, Bianka Betine and her young child, Theo, Julia becomes enmeshed in a dangerous plot that pays phenomenally well but costs her much in self-respect and remorse and leads her to face evil, both inside and out.

It is so easy to get swept up in the world of Spira City (a map is included and necessary) and beyond, a world of magic and subterfuge, witches and immortals.  There is menace and kindness, compassion and cruelty, and the difference is not always clear. Catherine Egan, who knows a few things about writing of evil and villains (see her guest post here), riddles her evocative and atmospheric writing with characters, like Julia, who appear to bridge that continuum of good vs. evil–yes, even Julia has some things of which she is not proud–making them as real as you and me but in a world of fantasy where writings can become wishes and owls can become cats.  Her characters are exceptional for their diversity and natures, and her plotting has the highs of turrets and the depths of dungeons, the twists of secret staircases and darkness, so much darkness.  But it is Catherine Egan’s writing that draws me in so fully.  It’s rich in the textures of shadows and excitement, going far beyond words into realms of new worlds.

“A hand jerks his head up by the hair.  A wetness at his forehead, a spreading blackness.  He thinks of struggle, but fleetingly, as if from a great distance–already this sudden, brutal ending has become part of somebody else’s story.” (pg. 28)

“When Wyn draws the Twist, he makes all the ugliness, filth, and poverty beautiful somehow–this is his gift, his magic: to transform with love.  And he works his magic on me as well, so that when he touches me, my horrible dress and uncombed hair are nothing, nothing at all to the beauty he draws forth.  I am not the same Julia–motherless, broke, badly dressed, a crook.  In his arms, for a short while at least, I am perfect.” (pg. 87)

From the depths of cruelty to the sublime of love, Catherine Egan writes with a fluid pen and transports readers to worlds where magic is possible. Thankfully Julia Vanishes is but the beginning of that story. Julia Defiant, out in June 2017, will carry us further.

Bera the One-Headed Troll

by Eric Orchard

First Second / Roaring Brook Press

978-1-626721067

128 pp.

Ages 7-14 

August 2016

With today being Halloween and Bera the One-Headed Troll being filled with pumpkins and trolls and witches, it seems only fitting to review this graphic novel today.  Written and illustrated by Eric Orchard, the illustrator of the recently reviewed If I Were a Zombie (Kate Inglis, Nimbus, 2016) –am I sensing a monstrous theme here?–Bera the One-Headed Troll is atmospherically perfect for a fun but teensy bit scary read.

Bera, who lives on an isolated island with her owl companion Winslowe, is the official pumpkin gardener of the Troll King. (There’s the pumpkin connection for Halloween,  and, except for the cover and an occasional candle burning yellow, it’s the colour scheme of all the book’s graphics.)  When Bera rescues a human baby from three evil mermaids (they are not of the lean and lovely variety), she takes upon herself the task of returning the baby to its humans.  But that is contrary to the wishes of the malevolent Cloote, former  head witch of the Troll King, who wishes to use the baby to return to the good graces of the Troll King.

From Bera the One-Headed Troll 

by Eric Orchard

Bera who feels unprepared for dealing with the baby decides to seek a hero from her books, specifically choosing Wulf the Dragon Masher.  On their journey, Bera and the baby, with Winslowe scouting from above, encounter the mermaids again, as well as the Guardian, a sea monster as big as an island, and a bunch of hedgehog wizards.  Thankfully this last group whose mandate it is to protect the creatures of the wood already know firsthand of Cloote’s destruction and offer to steer Bera to Wulf’s tower.  Wulf, a troll of epic proportions and light-spirit (“Hey, is that a baby?”, “Well, look at that” and “Imagine that!”; pg. 52), has not been on an adventure in a very long time and, though willing of spirit, he succumbs to his epic sleepiness.

So Bera goes in search of another hero, finding both Duke Otig, the two-headed troll hero of the troll-giant war, and then the three-headed Nanna the Great.  But the reader will soon realize that heroes are not just those who undertake adventures and engage in battles.  Heroes are also those who make extraordinary sacrifices to do ordinary things, making their own quests in the spirit of goodwill, not glory.

From Bera the One-Headed Troll 

by Eric Orchard

Bera the One-Headed Troll is a offbeat graphic novel filled with trolls (one-, two- and three-headed varieties), goblins, witches, and rats (Vince is particularly helpful) and positive messages about offering assistance to those in need.  With only her want to do the right thing, Bera takes herself out of her comfortable pumpkin patch island and discovers new strengths and instincts, while making some new friends and good karma in the process.  I thought Bera the One-Headed Troll was going to be a dark, dark tale for a Halloween night, and its graphics would’ve supported that notion.  Eric Orchard’s trolls and witches and other creatures could be seen as darkly unnerving, as are the settings of straggly trees and murky swamps and stone edifices.  But Bera the One-Headed Troll is neither dark nor frightening.  It is a positive message wrapped in a dark cloak festooned with pumpkins.  Read it for Halloween but take its guidance beyond the day.

Whisper the Dead: The Lovegrove Legacy, Book #2

by Alyxandra Harvey

Bloomsbury

978-0-802737502 

408 pp.

Ages 12-18

2014

The dead do indeed whisper. And although not all the Lovegrove cousins can hear them, ghosts and spirits and even those in the Underworld seem to have a lot to say. Seems attention must be paid, for everyone's sake.

In A Breath of Frost, Book 1 in the Lovegrove Legacy, the Lovegrove cousins–Emma Day, Gretchen Thorn and Penelope Chadwick–learned of their supernatural powers and heritage and began attending  the Rowanstone Academy, ultimately helping to thwart the evil Greymalkin Sisters.

Now the Keepers of the Order of the Iron Nail (a.k.a. the Greybeards) are diligent about securing the wards around London to keep it safe from open or leaking portals such as the ones that allowed the Greymalkin Sisters to return.  Gretchen's twin brother, Godric, who is overwhelmed by his ability to see spirits, must help the Keepers such as Emma's love interest Cormac and his partner Tobias Lawless in their task, though it is Gretchen, loathe to limit herself to learnings appropriate for young ladies, who truly wants to help in this endeavour.  In this capacity, Godric becomes acquainted with the unschooled witch and Madcap, Moira, whom he begins to court rather discreetly.  However, Gretchen's mother insists that her daughter choose a suitor promptly though Gretchen is too busy developing her gift of hearing whisperings of the dead and curiously examining her feelings for Tobias who has been assigned to watch over her. (Seems the Order is "cautious" about the Lovegrove cousins and their extraordinary magic and is determined to watch their every move.)

While Gretchen is learning to harness the insistent voices buzzing in her head, Emma is trying to open a portal to connect with her father in the underworld and to fix the spell she'd used to harness the Greymalkin sisters.  Fortunately for her, Cormac is by her side all the way.  Penelope, on the other hand, is balancing the attentions of Lord Lucius Beauregard while her childhood friend Cedric, the grandson of the family coachman, remains vigilant about protecting her, though a Keeper has been assigned to her.

While most young women are striving to secure a suitable marriage match, the Lovegrove cousins have greater issues with which to deal and they do it with such style.  And though they are all working to develop their magic and help keep London safe, even if they are ladies, Whisper the Dead is definitely Gretchen's story, just as A Breath of Frost was Emma's.  Gretchen is the gutsy girl who lets nothing stop her from pursuing her interests:  not her clothing, not her mother, not society, not etiquette.  Like her familiar, a wolfhound, Gretchen is fierce, fearless and dangerous, and her dear twin Godric is her champion, albeit a quiet one.  She will fight with daggers, climb houses, break the rules, speak her mind, and listen to her heart.  She is the sister, cousin and friend they all need in their corners.  So, it's especially satisfying for her to find a love in Tobias Lawless, a very proper young man who needs Gretchen to help him release his unreserved self and accept his inner (!) wolf.

Alyxandra Harvey is one of those authors whose stories are so multi-faceted and -layered that it is virtually impossible to provide a succinct yet comprehensive synopsis.  I haven't been able to do so for her Drake Chronicles or these Lovegrove Legacy stories. The weakness is in my retelling.  The stories are so rich and complicated, encompassing different levels of society in Victorian England and in the supernatural world, each with their own characters, protocols and flavours, and their own villains, heroes and common folk.  But Alyxandra Harvey integrates them all superbly in Whisper the Dead into a story abounding with intrigue, secrets, magic and romance, written in a voice uniquely her own.  Readers will find themselves holding their breath throughout the story, anticipating the worst, hoping for the sweetest, and always satisfied that the story has unraveled as it should.  As such, we are drawn further into our own relationships with the cousins as Whisper the Dead reveals more about the legacy that is the Lovegrove family, leaving us again expectant of further angst, conspiracy, and love that is sure to come.

Hexed

by Michelle Krys

Doubleday Canada

978-0385680509

384 pp.

Ages 14+

2014

Other than her best friend, Bianca, acting like a tyrannical cheer captain, and her Wicca-practising mom always droning on about protecting the Witch Hunter's Bible, and geeky neighbour Paige Abernathy constantly trying to re-establish their former friendship, Indigo Blackwood could be any sixteen-year-old teen.  That is, until a guy in leather–unusual in the heat of L.A.–starts showing up around her, laughing at her, making odd comments, and starting to cause her some concern.

When the Witch Hunter's Bible is stolen, Indie seeks out this handsome young man, who calls himself Bishop, sure that he is responsible for its disappearance.  With a twist of fate that has her reconnecting with trustworthy Paige, Indie learns that she may be a witch, that a group of sorcerers called the Priory are after the Bible in order to wield power over witches, and that Bishop has been sent by the Family–the governing body of witches–to help Indigo.

That hardly covers the breadth of supernatural goings-on: Bishop's warlock nature and ability to fly; the cruelty of the sorcerers; the twistedness of their mind-erasing; and Indie's own dabblings with her new powers.  Of course, there are also the normal teen issues of striving for popularity; balancing new friends, old friends, non-friends and exes; following school rules and parent rules; and worrying about making good decisions or not worrying about poor decisions.

Hexed is high school drama with witches and magic.  The high school scenes are generally banal, focusing on cheer-leading, football and lunchroom antics, all immersed in malicious gossip and spiteful stunts.  And Indie is shallow and oblivious to her own rudeness, undeserving of those whom she attracts.  But when the horrific Priory gets involved and start having an impact on her life and those around her, and Bishop and his ex Jezebel throw themselves into the fray, Hexed takes on a new dimension or two.  Michelle Krys is able to rescue a typical mean girls storyline and boy-meets-girl romance with the addition of surprisingly imaginative scenarios and magical powers, and the Bishop-Indie relationship becomes more than just predictable.  There are still some unknowns to be revealed, particularly about Bishop, about a frightening new character presented at the conclusion of Hexed, and about the elusive Witch Hunter's Bible, and these will serve to draw young adult readers to the next book in The Witch Hunter series.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charmed, The Witch Hunter Book 2 (978-0-385743396), is due out in May, 2015.

A Breath of Frost

Written by Alyxandra Harvey

Bloomsbury

978-0-8027-3443-3

496 pp.

Ages 12-18

Released January 2014

Starting to feel a bit of a chill? Not surprising when there's murderous magic and family secrets, as well as a potentially disastrous romance, tingling around young Emma Day in 1814 Regency London.  And she understands none of it.

While attending one of those infernal balls at which young debutantes attempt to win the attention of young gentlemen, seventeen-year-old Emma Day drops and breaks a small bottle of liquid which she carries as a talisman as a connection to her mother, Theodora, who has gone mad.  When an earthquake hits, chaos ensues, with Emma first finding an injured girl, Margaret York, and then witnessing a fire breaking out in the ballroom. Grabbing the first help that she can find is somewhat problematic, as it happens to be the debonaire Cormac Fairfax, the young man who'd kissed her over a year ago and then had ignored her so obviously ever since.  Worse yet, they find Margaret dead and covered in ice with a star-nosed mole exiting her chest!  Consequently, Cormac confuses Emma with talk about what she's done and insists she tell no one.

Confusing becomes even more bizarre as the night progresses and Emma and her two cousins, Gretchen Thorn and Penelope Chadwick, return home from the ball.  Gretchen and her twin brother Godric see the ghost of Margaret York and the strange mole.  Penelope, attending to her mother, Lady Bethany, in her sitting room, picks up a ring and falls into visions of being burned at the stake.  And Emma, determined to find out what is going on, steals away to Cormac's bachelor rooms to learn the truth, but not before she witnesses her hands and chest as if on fire.  Luckily, Emma's visit with Cormac is very revealing on several levels.

First, Emma learns she is a witch, one of the Lovegrove line, to which Theodora, Bethany and Gretchen's mother Cora all belong.  Secondly, Cormac is a Keeper for the Order of the Iron Nail, who keep order amongst those who do magic for nefarious purposes and tells her that a door to the Underworld has opened, perhaps because of Emma's "witch bottle", and as a result, Margaret was murdered.  Finally, it becomes evident that, although Emma feels she has been rejected by Cormac perhaps because of her mother's madness, Cormac is very much attracted to Emma but worries that there will be a conflict because of who she is i.e., a Lovegrove.  (Fortunately, I think Cormac will heed the advice of his wise mother that he should not let being a Keeper prevent him from finding true love.)

At 496 pages, A Breath of Frost is a lengthy read and I can't possibly share all the details within.  However, I can tell you that the Order is frightened by the power of the Lovegroves, and when several more young women are murdered, all frosted over, and Emma is the first to find each of them, the Order has her running as a fugitive.  Fortunately, Cormac does all he can to keep her safe, while enjoying stolen moments with her.  Moreover, there are secrets about Emma's heritage (did I mention she grows antlers?) that must be uncovered and worries about the newly-opened doors to the Underworld and the return of the really horrible Greymalkin Sisters, a trio of evil witches.

As I mentioned, A Breath of Frost is a long read but it has so many key characters and so many subplots, not to mention taking place in several time periods, that I'm surprised Alyxandra Harvey was able to keep it down to under 500 pages!  And how she is going to keep it to a trilogy is beyond comprehension, but I suspect that each book will focus on one of the Lovegrove cousins, this first centered on Emma.  In A Breath of Frost, Alyxandra Harvey has had to introduce the witch and magic contexts, and there are so many nuances to how magic manifests itself in general and for the individual, that there is still so much to learn. And that's just the content.

But A Breath of Frost's magic goes beyond its plots.  It sparkles with unique characters, great dialogue, some heart-grasping romantic interludes, remarkable imagery and a wit that twines throughout.  Take Godric's discomfort when he sees more ghosts: "Just when I thought it was safe to quit drinking." Or the image of a little girl with a toothless grin walking a gryphon on a silver chain down the street of Goblin Market. Alyxandra Harvey has created a lavish supernatural world that has all the perfect ingredients for casting a spell on readers of young adult fantasy, with a touch of true love.

Witchlanders

by Lena Coakley

Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster

978-1-4424-2005-2

400 pp.

Ages 12+

2011

The border between the Witchlands, the home of the Witchlanders, and the Bitterlands, the home of the Baen, seems inconsequential compared to the hostility between the two peoples.  While the fair-haired people who honour the Goddess and the twin prophets Aata and Aayse pay tithes to the witches of the coven, the Baens (reviled as "blackhairs") honour Ka and revere the black magicians, all male.  And now, regardless of the treaty between the Witchlanders and the Baen, a war is brewing.

In the Witchlands, Mabis, mother of Ryder and his younger sisters Skyla and Pima, is known for throwing the bones and using maiden's woe to assist her with visions.  Though she speaks of an assassin coming from across the border (but tells the coven that a monster would come out of the ground and swallow whole farms), Mabis cannot summon the witches to action.   In fact, when human-like monsters made of dirt destroy their farm, and the witches blame Mabis, Ryder is determined to cross the border and find the Baen who has started the troubles. 

Meanwhile, in the Bitterlands, another young man, Falpian, has been sent away by his father instead of preparing for battle with the other men.  Though he is told to continue his mourning for his twin brother Farien and prepare himself for a mission detailed in a scroll, Falpian suspects it has more to do with Father's disappointment in his inability to work magic with song.  Surprisingly, Falpian locates an ancient stone from which he is able to sing, ostensibly harmonizing with his echo, and make magic.

When Falpian discovers an unconscious Ryder, the two young men attempt to resolve the discrepancy between what they each know of the other's people and their affinity to each other.  This discrepancy continues to spur Falpian and Ryder through assassination attempts, deceptions, attacks by the dirt monsters, capture, rescue and confusion, learning that all is not what it seems or has been portrayed.

Lena Coakley has created a phantasmagorical world of people rife with prejudices and bitterness borne of history and manipulation.  Although magic is created with harmonizing song, their land growing hicca and maiden's woe, and their societies based on unique features, the characters are sadly familiar to our own.  And, even though Falpian finally relents that "There are no sides" (pg. 377), the nature of the conflict in Witchlanders unravels and regenerates both in familiar and unexpected ways.  Though Lena Coakley has not confirmed a sequel to Witchlanders, its final scene serves to achieve a gratifying conclusion while setting up the premise upon which a promising sequel can build.

A great book trailer for Witchlanders uploaded by Lena Coakley to YouTube on July 12, 2011 can be seen on CanLit for LittleCanadians Book Trailers here.