OTTO AND THE FLYING TWINS

Long marginalized by colonizing Muggles—er, Normals—the variously gifted Karmidee face a threat to their very existence in this series opener. Intent on achieving supreme power in the isolated City of Trees, as well as breaking down the physical and magical barriers that keep the outside world at bay, ruthless Elfina Crink sets herself up as Minister of Modernization, and dispatches her Normal Police, amidst a barrage of propaganda, to arrest “magicos.” This brings out the Sleepers—Karmidee trying to pass as Normals—including, to the amazement of young Otto, his own father Albert, the town librarian. With Elfina in hot pursuit, the Sleepers go into hiding until they can prepare a climactic confrontation; in the end, her schemes are too neatly derailed by a combination of political theater and revelations about her own nature. Short on story logic, but long on imaginative casting and world-building, this debut will leave readers thoughtful about its parallels in our own world, and eager to meet these magic-working characters again. (Fiction. 11-13)