NOT JUST A WITCH

Well-intentioned witches follow their hearts instead of their heads, with nearly disastrous results, in Ibbotson’s latest caper. After a tiff drives them apart, two kindhearted, and previously inseparable, graduates of witch school set off to rid different towns of evildoers: Dora, by turning them to stone; Heckie (Hecate), by transforming them into zoo animals. Cottoning on to their abilities, slimy furrier Lionel Warthag contrives to woo both, planning to make a massive killing (in more ways than one) by tricking Heckie into turning the local prison’s 300 inmates into highly marketable snow leopards. The author trots in her customary cast of caricatured adults and lively, intelligent children, presents a varied catalogue of criminals, including a ruthless chicken farmer and a racist demagogue, then brings her tale to a satisfying close with Warthag behind bars, and the witches friends again. Hawkes dresses the farce, previously published across the pond in 1989, with a cover and a stingy assortment of interior drawings. Not Ibbotson in top form, but sure to be snapped up by the legion of new fans she’s gained in the Harry Potter interregnums. (Fiction. 10-12)