Witch Catcher

August 1, 2006
Gr 3-6 -As the story launches, 12-year-old Jen and her father are settling into the West Virginia castle they inherited from an eccentric great-uncle. Jen is excited about this new adventure until she meets her father -s evil new love interest. Moura, a local antiques dealer, has bewitched Jen -s father to gain control of a blown-glass witch catcher inhabited by a certain fairy. Moura and Jen engage in a supernatural tug-of-war as Jen gets drawn into the middle of an age-old battle between fairies and witches. After her cat accidentally releases and befriends the fairy, Kieryn, they face off against Moura and her ilk in a contest to trap the other side forever in the luminous bulbs. Although the story gets off to a slow start, the pace picks up and is sustained with page-turning suspense. Jen makes a brave heroine and a nice foil to Moura -s over-the-top evil-stepmother routine. Although some characters are developed more than others, Hahn weaves an engaging story." -Nicki Clausen-Grace, Carillon Elementary School, Oviedo, FL"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2006
Gr. 4-7. Jen and her father have just moved into the enormous old estate left to them by Uncle Thaddeus. The grounds make a fascinating playground for Jen and her cat, Tink, especially the tumbledown stone tower behind the house. Despite an order not to explore there, Jen finds her way inside the tower and up its rickety staircase to a strange room, where she finds odd objects that include a compelling painting of a strange girl. Hanging from the ceiling is a mesmerizingly beautiful glass globe with spout and stopper. When Jen takes and hides the globe, sinister events rapidly unfold. Jen's father becomes bewitched by Moura, an antiquities dealer who desperately desires the globe and who comes between father and daughter. When Tink breaks the globe and the girl depicted in the painting emerges, Jen learns that she must fight Moura's evil hold on both her father and on the world of fairies. A fast-paced, suspenseful fantasy in which an appealing heroine stands against forces seemingly beyond her control.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2007
Bookish, slightly awkward Jen moves with her widowed father to "a big stone house high on a hill." The house has served as a prison for young fairy Kieryn, locked inside a glass witch catcher decades before by Jen's late great-uncle. The fantasy tropes of the story are all familiar, even cozy, making the book an excellent start for uninitiated fantasy readers.

(Copyright 2007 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)