Lavender-Green Magic

Andre Norton's _Lavender--Green Magic_ (1974) is the fifth of six novels called "The Magic Sequence" that were aimed at a slightly younger audience than most of Norton's books. The novel is clear, well-written, and charming-- the sort of fantasy that C.S. Lewis might have penned if he were writing for a modern American audience. The story involves three children who (because of contemporary American problems) are forced to move with their mother from the city to the small village of Dimsdale, Massachusetts. The children soon find that Dimsdale has a number of good and evil forces operating in it. Then they discover in their grandparents' junkyard a magical maze. The maze turns out to be a "time gate" which takes the children to Dimsdale's past. There the children first meet the good witch Tamar, who dresses and talks like a Puritan woman. Later, they meet the beautiful but evil witch Hagar, whose curse is responsible for the latter-day shadow over Dimsdale. But the older sister Holly has some anger and jealousy issues; and for a while, she is more prone to listen to the smooth temptations of Hagar than the sound advice of Tamar. The novel also features a spunky cat named Tomkit. Tomkit, it turns out, knows a thing or two about the difference between good and evil magic. (As always, Norton does a splendid job with her animal characters.)

Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly! Lavender's green, When I am king, dilly, dilly! Thou shalt be queen. - traditional This is one of the later entries in a set of at least six stand-alone novels (see also THE MAGIC BOOKS omnibus) with young, troubled protagonists who stumble across magical ways into other times or other worlds that give them a new perspective on their problems in the present. Holly Wade, with her younger siblings Crock and Judy, has had her world turned upside-down and isn't adjusting well. Their father is missing in action in Vietnam, and to support the family their mother has had to relocate and take a live-in nursing job, leaving her children with her husband's parents. Holly is determined not to like Sussex, Massachusetts, and clashes with her siblings over it since she isn't making things easier for their mother. Right away, the Wades learn that the old Dimsdale place where the older Wades once lived as caretakers (and caregivers to the old owner) is rumoured to have been cursed by a witch in the Puritan era, and certainly the old owners and the place itself had their troubles; Dimsdale has changed from being a 17th-century showplace with a specially-designed garden to being the local junkyard and facing destruction to make way for redevelopment. (Holly naturally finds the idea of living in a junkyard still another sore point, but the kids' grandparents make a point of salvaging and restoring a lot of antiques that come their way, and maintain the place as best they can.) The old overgrown maze in what is left of the garden turns out to be a gateway to the past, through which the children meet the 17th century Trulows, the daughters of the garden's original designer, who remained on the estate despite the Dimsdales' desire to take their land. If the cottage and herb garden at the center of the maze is reached one way, the children encounter Tamar, a healer who wants only to live in peace. Approached the wrong way, however, the cottage will hold Hagar, Tamar's younger, ambitious, unethical sister, who immediately finds Holly's hostility to the world around her a useful tool. (Holly's character is a good piece of writing; she's not a bad kid, but has become prickly and defensive, and it's believable that she could be tempted by Hagar's offer of magic. She's quick to expect hostility from the kids at school, and so hasn't been making friends. She likes bossing her little sister around, so she becomes still more touchy as Judy becomes more decisive and independent.) The present and the past are interleaved in a way that makes the story worth rereading to make sure you've caught all the details, including the older Wades' memories of the last of the Dimsdale family. In the present, when each kid has to choose a local history research project to prepare for the town's upcoming anniversary, Holly chooses the history of the estate to try to find out what happened to the sisters, which gives the reader more than one perspective on

Here's a fun game. Just off the top of your head, name me as many children's fantasy books starring African-Americans as you can come up with. "The Wizard of Earthsea" doesn't count. Go! How'd you do? Many come to mind? My bet is that if you were able to think of anything it was either a book by Virginia Hamilton or one of the five million books out there in which a contemporary black character is taken back in time. Maybe you also came up with "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm", but that's more sci-fi anyway. This is unacceptable. Fantasy is a huge genre of children's fiction. How hard could it be to write a couple good books with black characters? Whatever the case may be, thank God for Andre Norton. A fabulous fantasy/sci-fi author who flourished in the 1970s, Norton's legacy is all but lost in libraries today. Once in a while, however, a lucky child or adult stumbles on a Norton title, like "Lavender-Green Magic" and is rewarded with a richly textured tale of good vs. evil. Containing African-American child heroes, it's a great relief to see these books getting a much deserved reprint after all this time. The year is 1970 and Holly Wade has never felt worse in her life. Her father's been reported MIA in Vietnam, she and her siblings are being shipped off to live with their grandparents in the country, and the bus she's riding right now is making her nauseous. With a bad mood hanging over her head already, Holly tries not to enjoy anything that occurs to her once the family arrives at Dimsdale where her grandparents live. Still, it's hard not to find the junkyard her family runs pretty cool. Everyone's nice to the Wades and there are even mysterious stories about a witch who cursed the Dimsdale property long ago. It isn't until Holly discovers a mysterious scented pillow, however, that she and her siblings get caught up in a time traveling mystery where magic and witchery play a very big part. Norton plays hard and fast with more than one childhood love in this book. Hedge mazes are a big part of the plot and they are particularly cool. But a book that has hedge mazes AND a junkyard? Double trouble. The book handles racism in an interesting manner, with Holly expecting it at every turn and never finding what she fears. Nothing in this book ever strikes the reader as dated either. Quite frankly, the only reason you might think that this book wasn't written today are the brief references to Vietnam and Korea. And what with kids today having parents sent off to Iraq, this gives the story an unexpectedly timely attitude. Yet what I particularly liked about the book were the characters. Holly makes for a very interesting heroine since you spend half the book wishing she'd stop being such a jerk. When she allies herself with a particularly nasty witch of the past, the reader has the painful task of watching as she makes a bad situation for herself even worse. Fortunately she has two smart siblings who never let their elder stray too far from reality

Here's a fun game. Just off the top of your head, name me as many children's fantasy books starring African-Americans as you can come up with. "The Wizard of Earthsea" doesn't count. Go! How'd you do? Come up with many? My bet is that if you were able to think of anything it was either a book by Virginia Hamilton or one of the five million books out there in which a contemporary black character is taken back in time to the era of slaves/Jim Crow. Maybe you also came up with "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm", but that's more sci-fi anyway. This is unacceptable. Fantasy is a huge genre of children's fiction. How hard could it be to write a couple good books with black characters? Whatever the case may be, thank God for Andre Norton. A fabulous fantasy/sci-fi author who flourished in the 1970s, Norton's legacy is all but lost in libraries today. Once in a while, however, a lucky child or adult stumbles on a Norton title, like "Lavender-Green Magic" and is rewarded with a richly textured tale of good vs. evil. Containing African-American child heroes, I am of the opinion that this author deserves a little re-publication immediately. The year is 1970 and Holly Wade has never felt worse in her life. Her father's been reported MIA in Vietnam, she and her siblings are being shipped off to live with their grandparents in the country, and the bus she's riding right now is making her nauseous. With a bad mood hanging over her head already, Holly tries not to enjoy anything that occurs to her once the family arrives at Dimsdale where her grandparents live. Still, it's hard not to find the junkyard her family runs pretty cool. Everyone's nice to the Wades and there are even mysterious stories about a witch who cursed the Dimsdale property long ago. It isn't until Holly discovery a mysterious scented pillow, however, that she and her siblings get caught up in a time traveling mystery where magic and witchery play a very big part. Norton plays hard and fast with more than one childhood love in this book. Hedge mazes are a big part of the plot and they are, first and foremost, very cool. But a book that has hedge mazes AND a junkyard? Double trouble. The book handles racism in an interesting manner, with Holly expecting it at every turn and never finding what she fears. Nothing in this book ever strikes the reader as dated either. Quite frankly, the only reason you might think that this book wasn't written today are the brief references to Vietnam and Korea. Otherwise it feels particularly savvy and up-to-date. But what I particularly liked about the book were the characters. Holly makes for a very interesting heroine since you spend half the book wishing she'd stop being such a jerk. When she allies herself with a particularly nasty witch of the past, the reader has the painful task of watching as Holly makes a bad situation for herself even worse. Fortunately she has two smart siblings who never let their elder stray too far fr

When their father is reported missing in action in Viet Nam, Holly, Judy and Crock find their entire world changed. Their mother is forced to take a job where she cannot keep them with her and they are sent off to stay with their grandparents in a small New England village.Near their grandparent's home is an overgrown garden shaped into a maze. Compelled to explore, they discover that it is a door into a bubble in time. While Norton's books for younger readers tend to be more didactic than her books for young (and old!) adults, she makes an effort to include touches that her older readers would appreciate and enjoy. In this book which deals with magic, mystery and time travel, she tucks in a message about tolerance and accepting responsibility for one's actions. She also does not provide a pat happy ending (which children often see through and reject in books meant for them) but she does offer hope to her young characters that their situation would improve.

FROM THE COVER: A World of witches, rare herbs, and a curse are quickly discovered by Holly and the twins, Judy and Crock, when they move away from their comfortable home in Boston to live with their grandparents at the rural, rundown "Dimsdale place".... Inspired by a dream - or was it some kind of supernatural command?-the three children set out to explore the neglected, overgrown garden at the edge of the property, where they find and enter a secret house - and another century!!!...