From the back cover: Banished! Old Witch likes nothing better than to fly about on her broomstick crying "Heh-heh!" and casting abracadabras, but now she has been sent away... by two young girls. Amy and Clarissa love to tell stories about Old Witch... until one day they decide she is just too mean and wicked. Drawing a rickety old house upon a barren glass hill, the … [Read more...] about The Witch Family by Eleanor Estes
Fantasy
Arata: The Legend, Vols. 1-6
By Yuu Watase | Published by VIZ Media As a fan of Yuu Watase's shoujo classic, Fushigi Yûgi, I expected that I would like Arata: The Legend, her first shounen series. Turns out, I had underestimated my enjoyment: I really like it! The story begins in a world known as Amawakuni, where the child-like princess is preparing to yield the thrown to her successor after reigning … [Read more...] about Arata: The Legend, Vols. 1-6
Kobato., Vols. 1-3
By CLAMP | Published by Yen Press The plot of Kobato. sounds like a typical shoujo magical girl story. A dim-witted and clumsy heroine, who also happens to be guileless and compassionate, is tasked with filling a magic bottle with wounded hearts so that her dearest wish can be granted. But Kobato. isn't shoujo. If anything, it's seinen, as it ran for seven chapters in … [Read more...] about Kobato., Vols. 1-3
Pandora Hearts 2-5 by Jun Mochizuki
Reading Pandora Hearts is like mentally treading water. There is so much going on that one is constantly churning the plot waters, trying to stay afloat. It’s not that I’m saying this is a bad thing or that I object to thinking—far from it!—but that I never appreciated episodic lulls so much as when they weren’t around to give me a chance to understand and process what just … [Read more...] about Pandora Hearts 2-5 by Jun Mochizuki
The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit
From the back cover: It's startling enough to have a Phoenix hatch in your house, but even more startling when it reveals you have a magic carpet on the floor. Conceited it may be, but the Phoenix is also good-hearted, and obligingly accompanies the children on their adventures through time and space—which, magic being what it is, rarely turn out as they were … [Read more...] about The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit