The Everyday Witch: A Tale of Magic and High Adventure! [Paperback]

Sandra Forrester (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Series: Beatrice Bailey's Magical Adventures

Beatrice Bailey is tall, skinny, and about to turn twelve years old. On that birthday she will get her official classification as a witch. But will she be named an ordinary Everyday Witch or a specially empowered Classical Witch? When the big day arrives, the Witches' Executive Committee can't decide how to classify her. At last, they agree that her Maximum Magic Level must be tested, and to pass the test she must break a spell that has been cast by the evil sorcerer, Dally Rumpe. Thus begins Beatrice's series of adventures. Breaking the spell takes Beatrice and her three best friends to several dangerous realms within the witches' sphere. In this tale, their main challenge is to get past an enchanted hedge of thorns and a fire-breathing dragon to undo the spell that has cast the land in snow and ice. Author Sandra Forrester promises further bewitching adventures in books to come. In each adventure, Beatrice makes new friends who help her when she goes on to face dangerous new encounters. Here's a combination of fantasy, whimsy, and high adventure guaranteed to keep young readers turning the pages. (Ages 10-14)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7-In this first book in a projected series, Beatrice Bailey is an average middle-school student who just happens to be a witch. She is anxiously anticipating her 12th birthday when she will receive her magic rating-either "Everyday" or the more prestigious "Classical." However, the Witches' Executive Council can't agree on the appropriate classification. To test her abilities, they assign Beatrice to a Noble Quest. With her three best friends, she will travel to the enchanted country of Bailiwick to rescue a famous sorcerer and his daughters, long imprisoned by an evil rival. The five captives are confined in scattered sections of the land, each guarded by a different monster. This book deals with the questers' initial task-conquering the frozen region of Winter Wood, where the first daughter is trapped behind a wall of thorns warded by a fire-breathing dragon. This is standard magical-quest fare with all the expected elements. There is a wizards' village, a magical hierarchy with unusual names, a villain who seems to survive death on a regular basis-even rhyming spells and magic tricks played on mortal bullies. While the plot isn't particularly original, Beatrice and her companions are a cohesive group and there is a nice emphasis on cooperation and individual efforts. Not a first purchase, but worth considering where there is a strong demand for magical series fiction.
Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

Here?s fantasy, whimsy, and high adventure . . .
Beatrice Bailey is tall, skinny, and about to turn twelve years old—at which time she will get her official classification as a witch. But will she be named an ordinary Everyday Witch or a specially empowered Classical Witch? When the big day arrives, the Witches? Executive Committee can?t decide how to classify her. At last, they agree that her Maximum Magic Level must be tested, and to pass the test she must break a spell that has been cast by the evil sorcerer, Dally Rumpe. Thus begins this first in Beatrice?s series of exciting adventures. Author Sandra Forrester promises many more to come!

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (December 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764122207
• ISBN-13: 978-0764122200
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #647,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very interesting if not completely original., July 8, 2002

By 

M. Michaud "spooky_trix" (DANIELSON, ct United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Everyday Witch: A Tale of Magic and High Adventure! (Paperback)

I'm amazed to have even been able to read this one. I mean the christain groups were spinning around about Harry Potter teaching satanism to our kids and it was pure fantasy witchcraft. The witchraft in this book fits in a border between fantasy and realistic wicca. Anyways this book is still a fun fun fun read. The plot is simple, Beatrice Bailey (aka Bailiwick) is a witch and on her 12th birthday, the great witch committee (or something like that) can't decide whether she is an everyday witch or a really powerful classical witch so they test her by bringing her to the witch's sphere and getting her to break an ancient curse. There is alot of Harry Potter similarities. The two worlds, one for humans one for witches, teenage witch heroes, etc... but there are also enough differences to make this a book well worth reading. For one, Beatrice already knows of her witchy ways.
I'd advise parents to be okay with alternate religions before letting their kids read it. I myself am not religious at all, but was still pretty amazed at the wiccan-ness of the whole book (for instance anytime one of the kids ends a spell they usually end it by saying "so mote it be" exactly like wicca). I think Forrester might have made a mistake with this, lots of people are going to have problems with their kids reading this. On the other hand, I'm really really happy, its about time there were books out there that express other religious views than christianity. Don't misunderstand this though, the book has enough fantasy elements to keep it on the fiction friendly side.
Overall a book that has a fun story line, likeable characters, and if it ever gets famous enough...loads of controversy. Buy a copy before the frenzied mobs torch them all!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book That's NOT Just For Kids, March 30, 2003

By 

Jen Marie (Crystal, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Everyday Witch: A Tale of Magic and High Adventure! (Paperback)

The Everyday Witch is a very good book, it tells the tale of a young witch and her three friends and their adventure in the magical place called "The Witchs' Sphere." In this book the four have to go on an adventure which brings them to a dangerous land, gives them an unforgetable encounter with an evil villian, and gives them a chance to learn a little more about themselves and their desires. I liked the book because it is a lot like a fairy tale, except more exciting and modern. You get to know the characters quite well and the authors' description of everything paints a wonderful picture. This book is up on the level of Midnight for Charlie Bone and Harry Potter(any of the four that have been published as of yet.)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Magical" treat of a read!, October 2, 2002

By 

Alexmarie "Alexmarie" (Syracuse, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Everyday Witch: A Tale of Magic and High Adventure! (Paperback)

Beatrice is the girl next door, just trying to fit in. Just like almost every "tween" she feels like she'll never quite fit in - her parents are a bit odd, she has to go to a "special school" once a week, she doesn't feel like she's smart enough, pretty enough or special enough to be noticed and she's trying to deal with the changes in her friendships that happen at 12 years old. Of course, unlike most tweens, she really is more than a bit different. You see she's a witch, complete with witch parents and witch lessons on top of all the normal middle school stuff. Beatrice is about to turn 12 years old and find out if she's powerful enough to be classified as "classical" witch with special powers or if she'll stay a reformed "everyday" witch, like her parents and her friends. This (hopefully) first book in the series introduces you to Beatrice, her family and friends and follows the kids through their first leg of a "noble quest" that only they can accomplish. It's a fun read that draws you into the story with every page. Except for the fact that they are witches, Beatrice and her friends could be any of my daughter's friends (or for that matter, any of my friends when I was that age) trying to figure out where they are going to fit in the world they are trying to grow into. Each of the four friends have relatively unimportant, but unique, skills that will prove that there is more to them than meets the eye and "more to magic than spells".

I didn't find the book at all like Harry Potter (except for the fact that there are witches in it). Beatrice has a loving family and friends and is happy with the way her life has been up until the Witches council gives her this task. Throughout the first book she has to make choices, rely on her better judgement and think of ways to use her and her friends' talents to help others. Beatrice seemed real enough to my daughter to make her talk about how she sometimes feels the same way about school and friends. When the book was over we both moaned,"What's going to happen next? What's going to happen in the next book?" We can't wait for the second story!