Seven Sorcerers

Gr 5—8—Ninevah Redstone, 11, awakens one morning to the absence of her younger brother's typical noise. Toby has disappeared, and all traces of him have been erased from the world except for Nin's memory and her brother's favorite stuffed toy. He has, in fact, been taken to the Drift, a parallel world inhabited by the "Fabulous" (giants, fairies, tombfolk, and the like), where a plague has been killing off most things magical. Nin's quest for him drives the plot as she befriends an older boy who seems to straddle both realms, tries to avoid being nabbed by her brother's captor (a terrifying bogeyman named Skerridge), and delves into the secrets of the now-disappeared Seven Sorcerers whose powers still linger behind. Unfortunately, the pacing is poor, everything happens too woodenly, and the narrative focuses on telling rather than showing, and telling without finesse. Nin herself is uncommonly astute and brave in one paragraph and blubbering in the next. One-dimensional characters pop up out of nowhere. American youngsters may also struggle with the colloquial British English and the dialects used by some of the creatures. By the time the book's rather intriguing premise becomes apparent, most readers will have abandoned the effort.—Corinne Henning-Sachs, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, ME