 Juniper,
Gena and Anne make up the Fortune Tellers Club. With her inherited
psychic powers Juniper is their leader, the one in charge of the
Ouija Board, the one with ambitions to own a crystal ball. A
divination session to find Gena's lost brace is getting nowhere, so
Juniper decides to try something new. Substituting a clear bowl of
water for a crystal ball she projects all her psychic energy into it
and sees the face of a young girl rise slowly to the surface. And so
the adventure begins.
This is a well crafted story, its
sub-plots twining intriguingly around the main theme to make a
satisfying whole, with the cleverly laid clues adding to the
puzzlement, right to the very end. Life in small-town America is
evoked very convincingly, familiar territory to any child raised
with The Simpsons, although some of the colloquial American
expressions are a bit baffling for non-US readers. Girls of all ages can identify with
the story's setting in that comfort zone of secure girlhood between
leading reins and boys, with its attendant close friendships, small
jealousies and unreasonable parents. All of us will be able to see
ourselves in one member of the Fortune Tellers Club, are you
confident, adventurous Juniper, put-upon Gena or popular Anne? I see
Gena looking at me through the years. 'The Lost Girl'? - I found I
liked it a lot.
~Review by
Patricia A. Turton
|
