THE BROKEN SPELL

Can five young witches trained only in the theory of their craft fend off the magical attacks of the Mirrorman?

After besting a demon in their previous adventure (The Demon Notebook, 2014), Grace and her Irish schoolgirl friends trained all summer with the local cat lady, Mrs. Quinlan, and their French teacher, Ms. Lemon, but the classes were just boring memorization; there was no spellcasting. Then, on a trip to Mr. Pamuk’s magic shop, Grace glimpses a terrifying specter in a mirror. As the new school year begins, a new teacher, Ms. Gold, turns out to be the long-estranged third member of Mrs. Quinlan and Ms. Lemon’s girlhood coven from the 1970s—and Ms. Gold has far different ideas of what the young witches need to know. Grace and her friends are curious about what broke up the friendship and the coven of their teachers, so a little time spell might offer answers…but it only makes matters and Grace’s nightmares of the Mirrorman worse. Is he real? And can the girls’ friendship survive rivalries, possible demon invasions and boy trouble? McGann’s sophomore spell-filled saga suffers from too much exposition and an excess chapter or two. It is redeemed, however, by a whizz-bang finish and the same sympathetic, realistic characters readers got to know in the first.

Thankfully, these young witches will return.