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POLTERGEEKS by Sean Cummings

POLTERGEEKS

by Sean Cummings

Pub Date: Oct. 2nd, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-908844-101
Publisher: Strange Chemistry

An eager teen witch discovers the supernatural world is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

Fifteen-year-old Julie and her best friend Marcus aren’t the most popular kids at their Calgary, Alberta, high school. He’s a skinny brainiac, and she’s a witch (though, of course, only Marcus knows that). When an elderly neighbor is sent flying out her front door by a poltergeist, Julie’s ready to investigate, but her overprotective mother (also a witch) urges caution. The attacks continue, and suddenly Julie’s mother is incapacitated. With the help of skeptical Marcus and an immortal spirit who claims to be her “tutelary,” Julie must use her powers to delve into her family’s past and find the ancient spirit she’s sure is responsible for her mother’s condition and the increasingly violent supernatural incidents around town. Canadian author Cummings' first for teens features some fizzy magic and an interesting supernatural world, but discerning readers will likely find the characters shallow and their motivations simplistic. Worldbuilding is problematic as well: If witches have always existed, it strains credulity that devastation of the magnitude described could be explained away over the centuries. A sequel is all but guaranteed; perhaps it will be an improvement.

Passable escapist reading for witchcraft fans in search of something light. (Urban fantasy. 12-16)