This collection of early tales, some of them unpublished, is essential reading for fans of World Fantasy Award-winner de Lint (The Onion Girl). The six Aynber and Thorn yarns that open the volume ("Wizard's Bounty," etc.) are chock full of slashing swords, magic and evil sorcerers, but lack depth.
Grade 6-8 Kit Rodriguez is having a rough time. His family's new DVD player and remote control are too busy yelling obscenities at each other to work the TV, and his dog is asking his mother questions about the meaning of life. Even worse, his best friend and partner in wizardry, Nita, grieving over her mother's death, shuts him out emotionally and telepathically. To top it off, Kit has just been sent on an assignment to see why a new wizard's initial Ordeal is taking so long.
Grade 6-8 What would a cultural exchange program be like on a galactic scale? Dairine Callahan wants to find out, and, without obtaining permission, makes plans to go, along with her older sister Nita, on a trip to another planet while alien wizards visit their home on Earth. When Dairine is found out and grounded, her surprisingly amenable father still allows her to host the guests as planned. Meanwhile, Nita; her best friend, Kit Rodriguez; and Kit's dog, Ponch, spend two weeks on Alaalu, a planet that seems halcyonic.
Ages 10 & up. In the spirit of Madeleine L'Engle's classic A Wrinkle in Time, this is a fascinating and powerfully involving story about two lonely kids who are inadvertently caught up in the never-ending battle between good and evil. The problems of everyday adolescent life and the mysteries of magic are perfectly blended, along with plenty of humor and suspense. As two young wizards embark on a mission to preserve the universe they encounter an eerie version of Manhattan.
Nita and Kit are enjoying some downtime, when they receive a call for help from a fellow wizard. But this isn't any ordinary wizard; this wizard is a whale. Ages 10-14.
