August 27, 2007
Easton (Aftershock
) starts off strong but juggles one too many plot lines in this overly ambitious novel narrated by four different characters. Fifteen-year-old Chrissie has moved from rural Vermont to Los Angeles, where her mother has landed a job—complete with fancy condo and wealthy employer turned fiancé—but Chrissie still pines for her late dad and her best friend back “home.” Enter two witches, Yvonne and Karen, who welcome Chrissie into their coven. They have problems of their own: Yvonne's father kidnapped her away from her incompetent Gypsy mother in Europe years earlier; and Karen, pretty but none too bright, doesn't seem to realize when guys are using her. Now Karen thinks she's in love with Jimmy, the fourth narrator, but he'd rather hook up with Yvonne, who's not interested; on the other hand, Jimmy drinks so heavily that he doesn't care all that much anyway. The author doesn't draw enough connections among the spells cast by the girls, their behavior and a rapid succession of shocking events: Karen's quasi–suicide attempt, Jimmy's arrest on a felony charge and the sudden appearance of Yvonne's mother. While there are good ideas here, as well as the keen observations that Easton's admirers can expect, the characters are not developed enough to support the dramas they are made to play out. Ages 12-16.
December 1, 2007
Gr 8-10-Chrissie is not happy about moving from Vermont to California at the start of her junior year, but since her dad's mysterious disappearance, her mom needs a change. Almost immediately, Chrissie meets Yvonne and Karen. They invite her to join their coven, where they practice magic spells. Yvonne, whose half-Gypsy father stole her away from her mom, fleeing from France to England, and then to the U.S., wants a spell to help her mother find her. Karen, in love with Jimmy, the local bad boy, wants a spell to make him fall for her. Chrissie just wants to go back to Vermont. Only in Yvonne's case does the spell seem to work, but by the end of the story, each girl has found happiness anyway. Despite the title, the book mostly deals with friendship and family problems, so those looking for a fantasy or a book about magic should look elsewhere. The narrative alternates among the three girls and Jimmy, leaving the characters little time to develop, and the conflicts are resolved too quickly. This slight story might interest reluctant readers or those looking for a quick read. Most others can pass."Ginny Collier, Dekalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA"
Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 1, 2007
Fifteen-year-old Chrissie feels totally out of place after she moves from her comfortable life in Vermont to flashy L.A. A handwritten sign advertising psychic services leads her to Yvonne, a young self-proclaimed witch and leader of a coven, and her friend Karen, a gentle, sweet, boy-crazy teen. Yvonne and Karen welcome Chrissie to the coven. Even though Chrissie isnt sure she believes in what they do, with her new friends, she feels better able to deal with the changes since her fathers death three years earlier and her mothers new engagement. The girls spells, which introduce each chapter, include candle lighting, chocolate eating, and focusing on the change they envision, and their magic seems to work as Chrissie combats a bullying classmate. When Yvonne tries to intervene in a romance, and Karen faces a pregnancy scare, the group is abruptly divided. It is Chrissie who smoothes the waters, solidifying her place in the trio. The search for belonging and friendship will capture teens.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)
September 1, 2007
Native Vermonter Chrissie, fifteen, is a recent transplant to sunny, glitzy Los Angeles: her environmentalist do-gooder father died in India helping build a water system, and her mother -- whom Chrissie barely recognizes, with her highlights and California wardrobe and new fiance -- needed a change. Chrissie is a fish out of water until she sees a handmade sign advertising "Aura Analyses, Psychic Readings, Phrenology, Tarot, Palmistry, Crystal Ball, Channeling, Wicca, Dowsing, Telepathy, Homeopathy, and Raising of the Dead" and meets the sign's author, the inimitable Yvonne. Yvonne has lived in L.A. since she was six, when her father took her away from Italy and her mother, "one of the best witches among the Gypsies." The book's cast is rounded out by Yvonne's best friend, Karen, gullible and vulnerable; and Jimmy, the boy Karen loves but who loves Yvonne. Chapters alternate between these four unique, well-differentiated voices, each trying to carve out a sense of self. There are no flat characters here: even the adults have substance without overwhelming the story. Readers may be reminded of Konigsburg's Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth (for much younger readers), but Easton's elegant, fluid writing (water is a recurrent symbol), believable teenage emotions and situations, and strong characterizations make the book stand on its own.
(Copyright 2007 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
January 1, 2008
Chrissie, fifteen, is a fish out of water in L.A. until she meets Gypsy/witch Yvonne, gullible and vulnerable Karen, and Jimmy, the boy Karen loves but who loves Yvonne. Chapters alternate among these four well-differentiated voices, each trying to carve out a sense of self. Easton's elegant, fluid writing; believable teenage emotions; and strong characterizations make the book stand out.
(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)