FALCON AND THE CAROUSEL OF TIME

The third title in Falcon’s story lacks the luminous perfection of Falcon’s Egg but manages to touch on a number of interesting ideas before ending in a knot of sadness and hope. Falcon is 13 now, and she is beginning to think that magic is a pain, keeping her from really important things like being popular or knowing which boys are hot. An incident at the swimming pool allows for a set piece about adolescent embarrassment (and belief that one is the center of the universe) that is worth the price of admission. With a new friend who can also see dragons Falcon visits her mentor Aunt Emily, now well over a hundred years old, and when Aunt Emily seems to be dying, both girls manage to spin her back in time a hundred years to a charming New York City of 1903. Those pieces are full of welcome glimpses of characters from the other books, but in the end, Aunt Emily needs to face her death, and Falcon, her life. Thought provoking even if not entirely cohesive. (Fiction. 10-14)