Tuesday Top Five: Which Witch Is Which?
Oct. 15th, 2024 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nevannaI've already written about vampire books that I loved, so here is my list of formative books about witches.
1. The House With a Clock In Its Walls by John Bellairs (1973)
Orphaned Lewis and his eccentric magician uncle discover that their house is linked to a horrifying scheme from beyond the grave, and team up with their neighbor – a powerful but kind witch who loves purple and bakes delicious chocolate-chip cookies – to thwart a magical plan to destroy the world.
I first read this book in third grade, and I still recommend it to young readers to this day. The atmosphere, the dialogue, and the suspense all work together perfectly, and I love that a bookish, awkward, overweight misfit gets to be the hero without losing any of the traits that make him who he is. (The two sequels, in which Lewis’s friend Rose Rita plays a more prominent role, are also wonderful.)
2. Wise Child by Monica Furlong (1987)
With both of her parents absent and with no other family to care for her, Wise Child is adopted by Juniper, whom their medieval Scottish village regards as a healer, wise-woman, and possibly even a witch. (Later, we find out that Juniper uses the word “doran” to describe herself and those like her.) Both of their lives change for the better until Wise Child’s birth mother starts using her own magic to intimidate them, and the superstitious villagers blame Juniper for a local illness, forcing both her and Wise Child to flee their home.
As I told a friend recently, “This is the book for those of us who mixed up potions in our backyards.” It absolutely is that, but it’s also a powerful coming-of-age story about the dangers of mob mentality and the value of choosing one’s own family, with a conception of magic that is somehow both mysterious and matter-of-fact at the same time.
3. The Witch’s Eye by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (1990)
Lynn is trying to make sense of the events that led to her mysterious neighbor’s death in a house fire, but when she finds Mrs. Tuggle’s glass eye in the ruins of the house next door, she suspects that the old woman still holds some kind of influence over her family.
Although this is the fourth installment of a six-book series, I actually read it first (I read a lot of series out of order when I was younger). I’m hesitant now to recommend any of the books without qualifications, since it takes the “eccentric old lady is definitely using sinister magic” stereotype, which has historically caused real harm to real people, and plays it completely straight. Still, Lynn’s physical and psychological transformations, as she tries and fails to get rid of the eye, are very unsettling, and I can’t entirely dismiss a book whose climax scared me so much that I asked one of my own friends to hide the book for me so that it didn’t have to stay in my house.
4. The Sweep series by Cate Tiernan (2001-2003)
An alluring new classmate introduces Morgan and her friends to Wicca, leading Morgan to discover secrets about her own past and hidden powers.
I’ve developed mixed feelings about this series, too, because of its narrative emphasis on Chosen Ones and Special Magical Bloodlines, but devoured the books when I was in high school, even though they portrayed a spirituality in which I didn’t participate. I reread a couple of them around the time that I had the idea for this post, and appreciated that even after Morgan finds out that she’s descended from one of those Special Magical Bloodlines, she doesn’t consider her adoptive parents and sister to be any less her family. I was also happy to see positive queer supporting characters – both witches and not – in a series published in the early 2000s.
I would love to read, or perhaps write, an analysis of how Sweep fits into the supernatural teen soap opera subgenre. (It was published while Buffy and Charmed were still on the air, but predates Twilight, though it does contain some of the tropes that made that series and its imitators famous.)
5. The Tiffany Aching Series by Terry Pratchett (2003-2015)
In the region of Discworld known as the Chalk, Tiffany encounters fairies, elemental spirits, the ferocious but loyal Wee Free Men, and other friendly and not-so-friendly magical creatures, in her quest to become a witch.
True confession: I’ve tried a few other Discworld novels, partially or from beginning to end, and I didn’t love them (though, based on everything that I’ve heard, I understand why people do!). I don’t know what it says about me that this middle grade/YA series, which I discovered as an adult, works for me while the adult-marketed titles don’t. I do know that there’s still a lot to love about the Tiffany books in particular: their humor, originality, excellent character development, and insights into the fantasy genre and human nature. Although the setting and tone are very different from Wise Child, Pratchett’s exploration of a witch’s responsibilities reminded me a lot of the purpose that Juniper and Wise Child tried to serve in their own village. And, of course, the Wee Free Men are delightful in every one of their appearances. Crivens!
Have you read any of these books? What are some of your favorite witchy tales?
1. The House With a Clock In Its Walls by John Bellairs (1973)
Orphaned Lewis and his eccentric magician uncle discover that their house is linked to a horrifying scheme from beyond the grave, and team up with their neighbor – a powerful but kind witch who loves purple and bakes delicious chocolate-chip cookies – to thwart a magical plan to destroy the world.
I first read this book in third grade, and I still recommend it to young readers to this day. The atmosphere, the dialogue, and the suspense all work together perfectly, and I love that a bookish, awkward, overweight misfit gets to be the hero without losing any of the traits that make him who he is. (The two sequels, in which Lewis’s friend Rose Rita plays a more prominent role, are also wonderful.)
2. Wise Child by Monica Furlong (1987)
With both of her parents absent and with no other family to care for her, Wise Child is adopted by Juniper, whom their medieval Scottish village regards as a healer, wise-woman, and possibly even a witch. (Later, we find out that Juniper uses the word “doran” to describe herself and those like her.) Both of their lives change for the better until Wise Child’s birth mother starts using her own magic to intimidate them, and the superstitious villagers blame Juniper for a local illness, forcing both her and Wise Child to flee their home.
As I told a friend recently, “This is the book for those of us who mixed up potions in our backyards.” It absolutely is that, but it’s also a powerful coming-of-age story about the dangers of mob mentality and the value of choosing one’s own family, with a conception of magic that is somehow both mysterious and matter-of-fact at the same time.
3. The Witch’s Eye by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (1990)
Lynn is trying to make sense of the events that led to her mysterious neighbor’s death in a house fire, but when she finds Mrs. Tuggle’s glass eye in the ruins of the house next door, she suspects that the old woman still holds some kind of influence over her family.
Although this is the fourth installment of a six-book series, I actually read it first (I read a lot of series out of order when I was younger). I’m hesitant now to recommend any of the books without qualifications, since it takes the “eccentric old lady is definitely using sinister magic” stereotype, which has historically caused real harm to real people, and plays it completely straight. Still, Lynn’s physical and psychological transformations, as she tries and fails to get rid of the eye, are very unsettling, and I can’t entirely dismiss a book whose climax scared me so much that I asked one of my own friends to hide the book for me so that it didn’t have to stay in my house.
4. The Sweep series by Cate Tiernan (2001-2003)
An alluring new classmate introduces Morgan and her friends to Wicca, leading Morgan to discover secrets about her own past and hidden powers.
I’ve developed mixed feelings about this series, too, because of its narrative emphasis on Chosen Ones and Special Magical Bloodlines, but devoured the books when I was in high school, even though they portrayed a spirituality in which I didn’t participate. I reread a couple of them around the time that I had the idea for this post, and appreciated that even after Morgan finds out that she’s descended from one of those Special Magical Bloodlines, she doesn’t consider her adoptive parents and sister to be any less her family. I was also happy to see positive queer supporting characters – both witches and not – in a series published in the early 2000s.
I would love to read, or perhaps write, an analysis of how Sweep fits into the supernatural teen soap opera subgenre. (It was published while Buffy and Charmed were still on the air, but predates Twilight, though it does contain some of the tropes that made that series and its imitators famous.)
5. The Tiffany Aching Series by Terry Pratchett (2003-2015)
In the region of Discworld known as the Chalk, Tiffany encounters fairies, elemental spirits, the ferocious but loyal Wee Free Men, and other friendly and not-so-friendly magical creatures, in her quest to become a witch.
True confession: I’ve tried a few other Discworld novels, partially or from beginning to end, and I didn’t love them (though, based on everything that I’ve heard, I understand why people do!). I don’t know what it says about me that this middle grade/YA series, which I discovered as an adult, works for me while the adult-marketed titles don’t. I do know that there’s still a lot to love about the Tiffany books in particular: their humor, originality, excellent character development, and insights into the fantasy genre and human nature. Although the setting and tone are very different from Wise Child, Pratchett’s exploration of a witch’s responsibilities reminded me a lot of the purpose that Juniper and Wise Child tried to serve in their own village. And, of course, the Wee Free Men are delightful in every one of their appearances. Crivens!
Have you read any of these books? What are some of your favorite witchy tales?
