From Publishers Weekly
Fans of The Bronze King shouldn't miss this sequel, but those new to the proposed trilogy won't be left out by beginning with this one. Some time after the events of the earlier novel, Valentine Marsh finds herself willy-nilly cutting school, disobeying her mother and trying to save the world again. The threat: sinister Dr. Brightner, who is installed as the new school psychologist the same day Val's magic Gran runs away from her nursing home. A renegade wizard, Brightner is after souls, and he's been trying to get Gran to his clinic for "research." Val is horrified to find that he is trying to seduce her mother, who has long denied Gran's magic and doesn't see the threat. This is a book to relish; told in Charnas's nearly perfect first-person narration, Val's engaging personality of savoir-faire and innocence is judiciously mixed with a flying carpet, a deliciously scary Indian woman and a wonderful final confrontation in Central Park. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8 In this sequel to The Bronze King (Houghton, 1985) , 14-year-old Valentine discovers that her grand mother, who has magical powers, has gone into hiding to escape a powerful ``rogue wizard'' who is stealing human souls to use as soldiers in another world. When the wizard turns up as Dr. Brightner, the new psychologist at Val's school, and begins to date her di vorced mother, Val realizes that she alone can oppose him directly. This she does with the help of a magical glove given her by Gran. The various magical elements, including an Indian Restau rant named after the Goddess Kali and Brightner's ``Claw,'' which takes vari ous sinister shapes, do not form a smooth whole. However, the recurring image of a skating rink, on which the assembled souls whirl mindlessly, forms an effective link between epi sodes of the plot, which moves at a good pace. Characterization is lightly but effectively sketched. Brightner's gaining of power over Val's mother by using her loneliness is well-drawn, as is Val's reaction to it. In fact, it is the realistic tensions of this situation which will appeal to readers most strongly. Charnas has done a good job of fitting her fantasy into the everyday world of a young teenage girl. Ruth S. Vose, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
