The Circle

Gr 8 Up—This Swedish import tells the story of seven 10th graders who find themselves developing mysterious supernatural powers. After Linnéa and Minoo find their classmate Elias Malmgren dead in an unused bathroom from an apparent suicide, the girls are horrified. Just as they are coming to terms with his death, they and four other girls are drawn in by a mysterious force to an abandoned amusement park near their town. Once there, they discover that they are fated to fight an ancient evil, but they are given no other instructions or guidelines. When one of them also ends up dead, the remaining five must figure out how to use their suddenly developing powers to stop any further deaths. This meandering, overly long story drags. The authors seem to throw nearly every scenario from an afterschool special at the plot-teenage drinking, a student/teacher affair, alcoholic parents, etc.-in an attempt to make the girls' lives seem ordinary, but the effect is overwhelming. The girls are given what appears to be a guide into their new roles as witches in the form of their principal, but it quickly becomes apparent that she will not be able to give them all the help they need, so they, and readers, are quickly left frustrated and lost. With too much unnecessary detail, the real plot gets lost and many readers might give up before the conclusion.—Necia Blundy, formerly at Marlborough Public Library, MA