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Sarah Mylnowski is the author of numerous novels, including Bras & Broomsticks and Frogs & French Kisses. She spent nine summers at sleep-away camp, where she enjoyed campfires, color wars, and conjuring up excuses to get out of swimming lessons. She now lives and writes in New York City.


From the Hardcover edition.

Perfect hair, cute clothes, healthy tans—life’s a breeze when you’re a witch! Even special witchcraft classes Rachel agrees to attend with Miri turn out to be fun. The sisters meet other teen witches just like them—who knew? Everyone’s preparing for a magical party called a Samsorta—a debutante ball for witches. And it wouldn’t be a ball without warlocks. Cute ones. Like Adam, who wants to slow dance with Rachel, and ski with her in the Rockies—on a school night! Of course, Rachel is madly in love with her boyfriend, Raf. So why can’t she bring herself to tell Adam—funny, charming Adam—that Raf exists?

Rachel knows Raf likes her. Maybe even, gulp, loves her. But Raf doesn’t know her secret. Unlike Adam, Raf doesn’t know who she really is. And she can never tell him. Or can she?

KLIATT

In the fourth installment of the Magic in Manhattan series, sisters Rachel and Miri learn about a special coming-of-age ritual for young witches called the Samsorta. Miri wants to participate in the ceremony, and she talks Rachel into participating. Rachel is really more concerned with keeping her magical status a secret, especially from her boyfriend Raf, and with navigating the cliques and status situations of her high school. Complicating the situation is a new friend, Wendeline, another witch who has been home schooled until this year; Rachel tries to convince her to keep her magic under wraps. At first they enjoy the preparatory classes, but soon life becomes more complicated when they have to figure out how to keep their attendance at class a secret from Raf and from their father. Also, they feel torn between their new friends and adventures with them and their old life in New York. Ultimately, Rachel learns an important lesson about being honest with herself. Rachel narrates the story in first person in a breezy chick-lit style, and while the spells and some of the situations seem a little silly, there's a solid story underpinning the fluff. Rachel and Miri and their mother have to learn how to trust each other and the people important to them. For Rachel, the most important insight is what it means to be true to oneself, and that comes through clearly although not too obviously. The characterizations are a bit thin, but Rachel is sympathetic and appealing. The book stands well on its own; the back story is woven into the narrative unobtrusively. Pick it up especially if you have the other titles in the series, but it's also worth giving this a try if readers are looking forteen witch-type stories. Reviewer: Donna Scanlon