Return from Witch Mountain

When I was a kid I loved the movies Escape to Witch Mountain and Return to Witch Mountain. I just came across the book Escape to Witch Mountain at the library and decided to read it. The book was great. I didn't want to put it down. It's hard to find "science fiction" books today that are not scary. My 9 yr old doesn't like books like Harry Potter or Spiderwick because of the scary details in the story. Escape to Witch Mountain was a nice change. As Tony & Tia go on their journey you want to keep reading to find out if they will get away. Pick up a copy today, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Since most of the reviewers of this book are adults now who read this book as children and are remembering it as a childhood favorite, I would like to say that as a modern 14-year-old, I liked this book too. I agree with the reviewer who gave this book 4 stars because it was "dated" - the remark about communists ("human rights and human suffering mean nothing to a communist") - did make it quite clear what time period the book was written in, and the Christianity parts - Father O'Day "ranting" about his "sworn enemy", the devil - were kind of annoying, but that didn't spoil the book for me - i still loved it.

I hadn't thought of this book for many years. This book (along with another by the same author "The Forgotten Door") set me on a lifetime of reading science fiction and fantasy. I have rarely rediscovered the sheer unadulterated *magic* that I felt while reading this book. Tony and Tia are teens and most teens will relate to them and will get caught up in the mystery and the adventure. I haven't reread it in years and years but I remain certain that for young readers this would be a book they would treasure. Forget about the Disney movie: It was silly popcorn fluff that I am sure crushingly disappointed every fan of the book. This book is about as serious as young adult science fiction gets. (And for those adults who enjoy Harry Potter: take a look at this book too! You won't be disappointed!)

This book is very different from the first one, and yet just as great! In fact, I got lucky and bought it at a library sale! If you can get your hands on this book, you will love reading it!

This is classic Alexander Key, a story of a brother and sister with a mysterious past, psychic powers, and only dreams and fragmented memories to tell them who they really are. Much better than the okay-but-silly Disney film based on it, this ranks up there with "The Forgotten Door" as the best of Alexander Key.