From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 4 6 Audrey's father has a heart ailment, forcing her mother to work full-time at a job she doesn't like in order to support the family. To escape from her worries, Audrey writes stories, and so when a mysterious woman in a cave gives her an antique-looking bronze pen ("Use it wisely and to good purpose"), she immediately sets to work. After writing a passage about a girl who can speak with animals, she finds that she can suddenly understand her dog, Beowulf, and her pesky cockatiel, Sputnik. After a few more similar experiences with the pen, Audrey realizes that it must be magical. Once she figures out some of its rules and limitations, she is able to use it to very good purpose indeed. Readers looking for a full-fledged fantasy along the lines of Edward Eager's Half Magic (Harcourt, 1997) will be disappointed; the magical events are tantalizing but few, and although some hints are dropped, the mystery of the old woman remains unsolved. Audrey is an appealing kid and her thoughts and actions are interesting and believable, but in the end readers may feel that this fantasy does not deliver on its magical promise. Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

The winner of three Newbery Honors and an ace at blending light fantasy with realism, Snyder knows just how to allow magical elements to swell gradually from whispers to shouts, and how to open her characters' minds to uncanny possibilities. Here, 12-year-old Audrey's experimentation with an enchanted pen develops alongside equally compelling personal situations, including her father's debilitating illness and a new friendship with quirky Lizzie Morales, a terrific, memorable character. The 1970s setting, crucial to understanding why the father's angina is characterized as a death sentence, may be too lightly emphasized to avoid confusing readers whose parents or grandparents live full lives with heart disease. Still, at a time when children interested in fantasy often must tackle elaborate, lengthy novels written for a broad age range, this squarely middle-grade offering will find a grateful audience-especially, perhaps, among aspiring young writers like Audrey, who will emerge eager to swap computer keyboards for bronze pens of their own. Mattson, Jennifer. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.