THE SOLSTICE CUP

Readers who like their faeries sweet and simpering should flit past this realistic fantasy. Breanne and Mackenzie’s grandparents have warned the 12-year-old twins of the dangers of the Irish moors around the winter solstice. But acid-tongued Breanne, bitter from a previous, half-remembered damaging encounter with evil spirits, doesn’t believe the warning, and they are lured into an Otherworld occupied by possessive faeries and a few even more exotic, human-eating creatures. The girls are aided by Maigret, an elderly woman who lives near the faeries, and occasionally by another human, Finian, a piper. The faeries seek to enslave their victims using Finian’s hypnotic music and a potion served in the solstice cup. Suspense builds as Breanne gives in to the faeries’ demands, and the less impulsive Mackenzie risks all to save her. Character development is secondary to the action-driven plot, and occasional exposition of the back story slows the flow of the narrative. The fast pace, believable dialogue (particularly Breanne’s adolescent baditude) and relatively short length make this a good choice for reluctant readers seeking a fiendish-faery fix. (Fantasy. 10 & up)