Now You See It

By Vivian Vande Velde

    I think it's unseemly for a review to gush excessively so I shall try to restrain myself, but I have to be honest, Vivan Vande Velde is one of my favorite authors. With Now You See It, she's created another near perfect young adult fantasy novel -- fast-paced, funny, and totally believable, in a twisted sort of way. The book is told by 15-year-old Wendy -- a girl who's unsure about a lot of things; her looks, her family, and her place. One thing she is sure of -- the mirrored sunglasses she found certainly give her a new perspective. Through them she sees things no one else sees and ends up in a world that needs her to be a hero. Wendy doesn't think she's hero material. We tend to agree with her. Wendy's reactions to the things that go on around her ring so true and we find ourselves agreeing with her. It's nice to see the less-than-heroic character as lead in a story. Wendy never becomes just a side-kick to the wiser, braver, and more gracious Eleni. We may admire Eleni, but we have to admit -- we're more likely to be Wendy.

     As with Vande Velde's past books, the minor characters in Now You See It… get some of the best lines. One, an amorous blue spreanie (who seems to be a bit like a blue fairy) is endearing in a totally gross way and laugh-out-loud funny. For me, the only weakness I found in the book was that it had to end.