Alexia Murdock (Children's Literature)
This underdeveloped fantasy novel opens with twelve-year-old Jen and her widowed father moving into her great uncle’s castle-like home in rural West Virginia. The promise of a new life awaits them in a home filled with antique treasures and endless places to explore. Jen’s excitement dissipates with the arrival of Dad’s new girlfriend Maura, whose strange behavior Dad fails to notice. Maura mysteriously knows that Jen has been hiding a beautiful glass orb she calls a “witch catcher.” When Jen’s cat breaks the orb, she meets Kieryn, a young fairy whom Maura--the woman now engaged to her father--imprisoned in the orb many years ago. Through various unique yet unbelievable adventures, Jen thwarts Maura’s evil plans, and Kieryn and her fairy family return to their home world. Hahn’s novel begins promisingly by immediately submersing readers into an exciting magical world, yet with each turn of the page, the story weakens. All of the characters turn out to be one-dimensional, and the ineffective resolution does little but disappoint. 2006, Clarion Books, $16.00. Ages 9 to 12.

Janice DeLong (Children's Literature)
At first, inheriting a castle in the mountains of West Virginia seems like a dream come true to twelve-year-old Jen. On moving day, Jen, her widowed father, and her small cat Tink sort of rattle around in the mysterious dwelling--until Jen discovers an off-limits tower in their expansive back yard. The temptation to invade the dark and ramshackle structure is too great, and Jen’s life begins to swarm with a series of supernatural events. Stirring the magic brew is Moura, an antique dealer who wants to possess the treasures of the castle--along with Jen’s apparently willing father--while finding a way to dispose of the pesky daughter. Moura is especially inquisitive about small globes of amazing colors, repudiated to be successful in trapping witches. When Jen secretly comes into possession of one of these mysterious artifacts, her life is no longer lonely but filled with adventure, supernatural friends, and threats from her dad’s, now, fiancée. Shape shifting, deception, night flights, and a small host of fairies add to the intrigue of this unpredictable little novel. 2006, Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Company, $16.00. Ages 10 to 12.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2006 (Vol. 74, No. 11))
Twelve-year-old Jen's father inherits Mostyn Castle, a mansion in rural West Virginia, from his eccentric great-uncle Thaddeus, and the two move there from Maryland. Unbeknownst to Jen, while on several trips to get the house ready, her father has literally fallen under the spell of Moura Winters, a local antiques dealer. Jen dislikes her immediately and learns that Moura is actually a witch from the Fairy realm who came to this world decades ago in pursuit of the rightful heirs to the throne of Fairy. After freeing the heirs from their glass prisons, Jen works with them to trap Moura and reopen the door to their home world. Putting aside the stock idea of having Dad be under the spell of an evil woman bent on marrying him, this is an original fantasy/horror adventure. Jen is a strong, believable, likable heroine. The war between the witches and the fairies and the magical mechanisms are fresh and well-presented. Hahn's fans and devotees of Emily Rodda's many series will be heartily pleased. 2006, Clarion, 240p, $16.00. Category: Fiction. Ages 9 to 14. © 2006 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Wendy S. Lavenda-Carroll (Library Media Connection, February 2007)
Mary Downing Hahn's first attempt at writing fantasy is a success! This book is a real page-turner. Twelve-year-old Jen and her father inherit an estate in a remote part of West Virginia and begin a new life there. Jen is at first very pleased with the wonderful old home, until she meets her dad's girlfriend who appears to control Jen's father. Moura, who owns an antiques shop, is very interested in the relics, paintings, and other antiques in their house, especially a witch catcher. Jen discovered the witch catcher when they first arrived at the house, and kept it hidden. Moura seems to know that Jen has the witch catcher and tries to trick her into revealing its location. When the witch catcher gets broken, strange events happen. Jen discovers Kieryn who convinces Jen that she is a fairy and that Moura is a witch who had her locked in the broken witch catcher. When Jen decides to help Kieryn rescue the rest of her family, also trapped in witch catchers at Moura's store, Kieryn teaches Jen how to shape change in order to escape from Moura. The characters are well thought out and the story is sure to intrigue, scare, and thrill readers. Recommended. 2006, Clarion Books, 240pp., $16 hc. Ages 9 to 13.

April Spisak (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2006 (Vol. 60, No. 2))
Jen’s father has inherited a mysterious castle in the mountains, and Jen, an adventurous twelve-year-old, can’t wait to explore it. She is less thrilled, however, with Dad’s new girlfriend, Moura, whom he has been dating on the sly, and with whom he is completely smitten. Already suspicious of Moura (Jen’s certain her hypnotizing perfume is entrancing her father), Jen’s convinced that the mysterious glass ball she finds is connected to the woman; after the witch catcher is broken, a quirky fairy girl emerges out of the shards and confirms Jen’s suspicions, alerting her to Moura’s true witchy self. Now Jen, who had only hoped for a cool new house, is burdened with a lovestruck and suddenly distant father, a family of shape-shifting and untrustworthy fairies who need rescuing, and the dangerous Moura, who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. It is unclear why the witch traps would work as well for fairies as witches (Moura kept the fairy family trapped for years before Jen’s arrival), but this is a minor confusion in an otherwise carefully developed fantasy. Realistically squicky detail (there’s a great evocation of the way it might feel to be transformed into an ant), elegant descriptions (the swirls of colors in the glass traps are described with particular artistry), and a clever twist that allows the fairies to retain their integrity as tricksters all combine to make this fantasy an intriguing read. Hahn’s taut, fast-paced writing style works effectively to sweep readers into the story and keep them engaged until the fairies go home, Moura is stopped, and Jen finally gets her newly appreciated “regular” life back. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2006, Clarion, 236p., $16.00. Grades 4-6.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2007)
Bookish, slightly awkward Jen moves with her widowed father to "a big stone house high on a hill." The house has served as a prison for young fairy Kieryn, locked inside a glass witch catcher decades before by Jen's late great-uncle. The fantasy tropes of the story are all familiar, even cozy, making the book an excellent start for uninitiated fantasy readers. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2006, Clarion, 236pp, 16.00. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.