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The Lost Girl
By Dotti Enderle
Llewellyn, 2002, ISBN 0738702536
144 pages
$4.99 USD
Like a new age version of the Baby-Sitters Club, The Fortune Tellers Club books are sure to be enjoyed by the mystic-loving 10-year-old. Though the stories are simple and made for children of about 10 to 13, they do contain real aspects of divination. In The Lost Girl, when the three "tween" girls begin their attempts to retrieve a lost retainer (a dental device), they discover a lot more than they bargained for.
When discovering that 9-year-old Laurie Simmons is missing and in need of some serious aid, the girls set off to find her and bring along some divination tools with them. Though the cute story is great for a fun read, it is not really realistic. Being a Witch myself, I do not think it likely that three 12-year-olds would encounter such a monumental task while scrying for a simple retainer though the methods of scrying they use are ones often practiced by many experienced witches.
Scrying for something with a bowl of water, as used in the book by Juniper, is probably one of the oldest methods of divination. Although, while scrying for a certain object one does not usually encounter something else . Then again, it's more exciting to search for a lost child than a retainer and improves the story. Many teenagers or "tweens" are drawn to Witchcraft or Pagan traditions through books, though it is unlikely that one would become interested after reading a fictional novel such as this. Though a good read, the book focuses more on "fortune telling" than on Witchcraft or Paganism, and so the child is more likely to discover a passion for ouija boards or tarot cards. Many people who practice divination are not Pagans or Witches, and so these two are not connected directly.
Ideal for an interesting read for any child aged 10-13, and a convenient bedtime story.
Playing with Fire
By Dotti Enderle
Llewellyn, 2003, ISBN 0738703400
152 pages
$4.99 USD
The second volume in Enderle's Fortune Tellers Club series is just as fun as the first. Kids will be just as interested in Playing With Fire as they were with the Lost Girl. At the appearance of the new boy at school, Anne and her friends break out the tarot cards to discover Anne's future as Eric's girlfriend, but as mysterious fires start erupting over town, the trio begins to wonder if they should be asking the tarot something else.
As in the previous novel, the girls do use an actual method of divination. Tarot cards first emerged from Italy during the Middle Ages as a deck of playing cards and soon took on a new purpose. Now many witches use tarot cards for their everyday divination needs, and almost all of them have numerous decks. From traditional decks like the Robin Wood tarot to modern ones like the Fey tarot, anyone can find a deck that suits them. Many pagan families have begun passing down the tradition of tarot to their children, learning at a young age to use this particular method of divination.
Though tarot cards are a legitimate and realistic form of divination used in Witchcraft, children reading this novel will probably become more interested in tarot cards themselves, rather than Witchcraft.
Along with the very real method of tarot reading, comes the very unrealistic or very unlikely power of pyrokenesis. The idea of a person being able to control fire, or produce it is a very fantastical one, and so is not considered to be a realistic aspect of the novel. However, it sure makes for an exciting mystery for the Fortune Tellers Club to discover, and one children are sure to enjoy as well.
Ed note: There are currently seven titles in the Fortune Tellers Club series. The latest one, Burning Pendulum, is due out in January 2005.
(Reviewed Yule 2004)
Kyrie is a 17 year old high-school senior who belongs to the Young Pagan's Circle.
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Book reviews © 2004. Permission to reprint, with full credit, must be
granted by the author. If you would like to reprint this review, please
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