Life's a Witch

Gr 9 Up—Hadley Bishop, 17, and her parents are members of the Cleri, Salem's secret group of witches whose existence dates back to the 17th century. Hadley is a witch, but she lives a perfectly normal life for the most part. She is class president at Astor High, captain of the cheerleading team, and super popular. Her spells are usually limited to changing her coffee from plain to vanilla or her outfits so that she never has to wear the same thing twice. Hadley regularly meets with other Cleri teens to practice a variety of spells, which seems completely irrelevant, until now. When the adults in the coven all disappear on the same night, the teens believe that they have been killed by the Parrishables. No one has seen or heard from these longtime rivals in decades; however, they have been gaining strength in numbers and power, and now Hadley and the other teen Cleris must fight against them to survive. This is an enjoyable read, particularly for fans of Sarah Mlynowski.—Jesten Ray, Seattle Public Library, WA