Believing Is Seeing

November 15, 1999
Gr. 6^-12. Six of the seven stories gathered here have appeared in previous story collections, including the author's own "Warlock at the Wheel." Buy the book anyway, not only for the excellent stories but for the fantasy contrasts they offer. "The Sage of Theatre," for example, is a lighthearted, alternate-world fantasy in which the gods are perhaps too well organized--until the Sage of Dissolution appears. In sharp contrast, "The Master" is a nightmarish, edgy story about a young vet summoned on an emergency call to an experimental wolf preserve that seems to include werewolves. A schoolgirl at home with a bad case of the mumps invents a miniature fantasy heroine who comes to life and threatens her creator in "Enna Hittims," and an aged cat narrates a fairy tale of sorcery and true love in "What the Cat Told Me." Several of these stories would make wonderful read-alouds. Give this book to fans of McCaffrey, Pratchett, Wrede--and, of course, the remarkable Ms. Jones. ((Reviewed November 15, 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)