Review of Magic Below Stairs

This is a charming, short fantasy novel.  Frederick is an orphan whose luck suddenly changes, joining a household led by an eccentric wizard.  Worth reading.  3 Elves - Recommended

Review of The Apprentices - Maile Meloy

In this sequel to The Apothecary, Janie has been separated from her friend, Benjamin, and is now living in New Hampshire.  She is attending Grayson Academy while her parents are working in Wisconsin, and Janie misses her parents, Benjamin and Pip, plus Jin Lo and Benamin's father, the apothecary.  But evil has followed Janie to her new school and with Benjamin traveling in Asia with his father, she is all alone.  Soon, she is kidnapped for a formula she developed at school, and her captor is waiting for Benjamin to rescue her so he can obtain his magical formulas, too.  The ending is exciting and since one of the bad guys escapes, we can expect more action in the next book in the series.  3 Elves - Recommended

Review of A Discovery of Witches & Shadow of Night

These two novels by Deborah Harkness are for adults, but a teen who likes a challenge would enjoy both of them.  The first book starts out a bit slow, but soon you're engrossed in a world of witches, vampires, daemons and alchemy.  The historical references are fun to follow and the love story compelling.  Shadow of Night takes us into the past, with a great feeling for living in earlier times surrounded by famous characters from history (many turn out to be daemons or vampires).  I'm really looking forward to the third and final book in this series.