Sabrina The Teenage Witch #3: Good Switch, Bad Switch

Stars: ***

Accuracy: *

Synopsis: Sabrina's got spellfluenza, a nasty little witch virus. Every time she sneezes her powers pop out of her and into the next person. Another sneeze and they're back again - whew! It's not bad at first - Sabrina only sneezes in pairs. But then Libby Chessler gets in the way of a solitary achoo and... uh-oh. It doesn't take Libby long to figure out she's picked up some powerful magic. Now there's just one thing she wants...more! After all, world domination isn't out of the question! Sabrina's challenge is clear: Follow Libby on her search for bigger and better powers, and stop her. But can she do it as a mere mortal?

Review: A cute plot, it's interesting to see what Libby does with her powers. It shows that although she can be shallow and incredibly rude, she's not stupid. The way Sabrina is diagnosed is funny too.

Accuracy: See my review of the Sabrina The Teenage Witch TV show for more.

Sabrina The Teenage Witch #2: Showdown at the Mall by Diana G. Gallagher

Stars: ***
Accuracy: *

Synopsis: Sabrina is determined to make it on mortal terms in the Teen Work Weekend project at the mall... even if she does use a little magic to land a job at the Too Chic Boutique. But Libby and her friends, Jo and Cici, are out to make her look like a fool and suddenly her magic isn't working! Sabrina soon learns the reason: her new found cousin Tanya, a full witch who swears she'll prove that her magic is stronger than Sabrina's. Even if it means threatening Sabrina's job and casting a spell over Harvey, too. But every time Sabrina tries to strike back, her spells boomerang and she's in worse shape than before. Her aunts say she must learn how to protect herself. This time she's on her own.

Review: I liked this one a bit better than the first. Although it's the second in the series, it does not take place directly after the first but a few months later. I couldn't guess what would happen next which makes a book good for me. I hate knowing what would happen. I could even feel myself getting frustrated when Sabrina was. This to me means the writing was done well.

Accuracy: See my review of the Sabrina the Teenage Witch TV show for more.

Sabrina: The Teenage Witch by David Cody Weiss and Bobbi JG Weiss

Based on Characters appearing in Archie Comics. Created by Nell Scovell. Developed for TV by Jonathon Schmock.

Stars: ***
Accuracy: *

Synopsis: Sabrina's the new girl in town and she's already made enemies. Jenny wants to be friends, but Libby, the most popular girl in school, has put the hex on Sabrina. And Libby's friends won't give her the time of day. Thank heavens for Harvey! He's really special. And he seems to think Sabrina is, too. It's almost enough to convince Sabrina that everything will be OK. Then her aunts tell her the terrible truth - she's a witch! There's no doubt about it when she wishes dead frogs back to life in biology lab! But not even her newfound powers can help her when Libby asks Harvey to the dance - and he says Yes! What's a witch to do?

Review: This is the first book in the series and as mentioned above, is the story of how she found out she was a witch. The book was pretty good, it was funny when she keeps inadvertantly using her new powers since she hasn't totally figure them out yet. She gets in lots of trouble and lucky for her, her aunts know what to do. I could so indentify with Sabrina when she is dealing with Libby. I had problems with the popular girls too.

Accuracy: See my review of the Sabrina: The Teenage Witch Tv show.

Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier

Stars: *****
Accuracy: ***

Synopsis: Reason and her mother Sarafina are on the run from Reason's grandmother Esmerelda. However, when Sarafina goes crazy, Reason is placed with her grandmother. Nothing about Esmerelda's home in Syndey, Australia is what she expected and when she walks through the back door and ends up in New York City, she has to face the facts. Magic is real.

Review: This book takes place in Australia AND the US and when Reason, who has never been outside of Australia before, ends up in the US, you can just imagine how strange it must be for her. She goes from summer to winter, day time to night time, Tuesday to Monday. The New Yorkers speak English but it's a different English and often she finds herself asking what something means or explaining what she is saying. I found this part of the book extremely interesting. It was neat to think about what a foreigner would think of North America. It reminded me of when my Floridian cousin first saw snow. I am off to find book 2 as I can't wait to know what happens next.

Accuracy: A lot was explained about how Witchcraft works in this book but most of it was different from real Witchcraft. In the book, Witches are hereditary. Practicing too much magic has consequences and practicing none has some too (I can't elaborate or I'd ruin the story.) Witches can go through portals to another country.

Closer to truth, the witches in the story use herbs and feathers for charms and spells and acknowledge that everyone has some magic in them (like when you know who's calling before you answer the phone.)

Witch Hill by Marcus Sedgwick

Stars: ****
Accuracy: **

Synopsis:
When Jamie's home burns down, his parents send him to live with family in Crownhill for a while. He starts getting scary dreams about an old woman and the people he's staying with seem to be hiding something.

Review:
This book had me hooked in, wondering what was next and trying to figure things out before they were revealed. The book is scarier than most for the age group of 10-14. If your child scares easily you may want to wait a few years more. Before most of the chapters, there is a little blurb about a town witch, written as if it was written back in the 1500's during the witch craze. It's hard to explain so here's a little: "The witch was found at her lair on the hill where she was consulting with her familiar, the cat named Chub. It was clear from the leaved of herbs around about that they were preparing some more injurious mischief to inflict upon one person or another."

Accuracy:
Witches in this book are evil old hags who use curses on other people for their own gain. Their familiars do their evil bidding. Although the blurbs mentioned above mention Satan (spelled Sathan, not sure why,) in the actual text of the book it is mentioned that witches don't really believe in Satan, that he's a product of Christianity. It also explains that those burned and hung during the witch craze weren't actually witches.