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Spellbound

The best recommendation for this book is the fact that both my third-grade and fifth-grade nieces asked if they could read it before me, and it got their seal of approval.  The second book in a series, there was enough background trickled in to fill me in, even though I hadn’t read the first book.  It tells the story of a young girl living in a large mystery-and-magic-filled house, along with her distracted parents and three magical cats who once belonged to the previous owners of the house.  Olive is on a mission to find the spell book of the house’s previous residence, but the cats are doing all they can to interfere.  Though she insists (to herself as well as others) that she’s got the best of intentions, the books seems to work its own magic on Olive, leading her away from her original goals, with the potential for disaster hanging in the balance.  Joining Olive in her quest is a friend she met in her first book, and a new friend who has just moved into the neighborhood.  As one would expect with a good kids’ book, in the end Olive comes to her senses, averting disaster, and learning something about herself, and about what it means to be a good friend.