Sage Adderley

Laura is Maggie’s mom. Laura is a witch, but she doesn’t talk about it with Maggie. But, Maggie has noticed ‘things’ all her life, and now that she’s fifteen-years-old, she’s pretty sure her mom is a witch. The ‘things’ included candles and incense; incantations; a manmade circle of large rocks; and four equal points in the circle representing Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Not every chapter in the book is told through Maggie’s perspective. In an early chapter through Laura’s perspective, she’s outside in the cool night air. “A gust of wind blew through the wind chimes and they clanged loudly against the porch. …the candle blew out and the wind chimes went quiet. I took another sip of wine and kept my voice low. ‘Hello, Mother.’”

Not only had Laura kept her witch status from Maggie, she’d also kept much of the family details from her. Like, where is her father? And, how did her grandmother die? Maggie had begun to notice small changes in herself – enough to realize that she may also be a witch. Then, she is given a school project to detail her family for two generations back. She begins to sneak through her mother’s things for answers. Eventually, she confronts her mom. What had been secret for so long all at once flows forth from her mom. The information she’s yearned to hear for so long now feels like too heavy a burden.

This is a tale from the early 1990’s, with glimpses from the late 1970’s. For this rather short read (186 pp), the character detail is full and satisfying. I loved Maggie, her mom, and her best friend, Ruby. As the story progresses, the reader gets to see the transformation (closeness) in the relationship between Maggie and Laura. Maggie and Ruby were goofy together, which teens are at times. The character detail of the antagonist is also fleshed out very well because we all know teens can be mean to each other as well. I didn’t feel that the teenagers in this story were presented in a stereotypical manner; I felt they were very realistic. I don’t read very much fiction with witchcraft or with a paranormal aspect, but this one was so enjoyable. It’s a clean YA and Teen novel; I felt the content was appropriate for teens. Bottom line, a story to capture your mind and a debut well done by Sage Adderley! Rating: 4.5 out of 5.… (lisätietoja)