The Witches of Sea-Dragon Bay: The Adventures of Beatrice Bailey (Beatrice Bailey's Magical Adventures)
Grade 5-8--Beatrice, a 12-year-old apprentice witch, continues the quest assigned by the Witches' Executive Committee to determine her official magical rating. She must rescue a wizard's four daughters who have been imprisoned by an evil sorcerer in strongholds scattered throughout the enchanted country of Bailiwick. Having successfully liberated the first two captives inThe Everyday Witch(2002) andThe Witches of Friar's Lantern(2003, both Barron's), Beatrice, her three friends, and two newly assigned witches now travel to Sea-Dragon Bay, where Ailsa is confined in an off-shore castle guarded by fearsome sea monsters. The expedition faces numerous problems: the travelers' hot-air balloon crash-lands; one of the companions is nearly drowned in a flooded cellar; and Beatrice is trapped in a rat-filled dungeon. The friends suspect that one of the newcomers is in league with the enemy. Familiarity with Beatrice's previous adventures is helpful, but not essential, and a number of plot threads are left unresolved for later volumes. This book, like J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series (Scholastic), features young magic-users in training, an arcane world coexisting with the mortal sphere, a witches' hierarchy, and a villain who is regularly foiled but never completely defeated. Although Bailiwick isn't as fully realized a place as Rowling's Hogwarts, Forrester's title is worth consideration where fantasy is popular.--Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, ILCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.