The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring

It is books like this that make me with I was still teenage girl. Heck, how often to you find a female coming-of-age story blended with a supernatural story so horrific and gripping? Bellairs' straight-forward detailed writing keeps it all wonderful, and I found myself consumed by both the teen angst and the freaky mystery. Rose Rita is about to enter junior high. Being that she is a die-hard tomboy, the idea of entering a world full of skirts and school dances is absolutely terrifying. She spends a good deal of the book trying to decide where a girl like her fits into the world. But it's not all angst. It's John Bellairs, and that means sheer freakiness. She attends her neighbor on a road trip to look at an inherited farm. What they find is classic Bellairs horror of witches and grudges and magic. The story is entrancing, emotional, and downright freaky. Bellairs keeps up a fantastic adventure while still managing to get into the head of a girl going through an awkward phase. Sheer imagination, sheer emotion, and sheer joy.

The Letter, The Witch, and The Ring is the final book in John Bellairs trilogy and was a great ending to this series for young adults. This series was first published in the 70's and I'm sure it's well known by many children's and young adult author's today. The last book in the series turns it's focus from Lewis to Rose Rita, Lewis' best friend. Lewis has gone off to boy scout camp for the summer and Rose Rita is upset because she is left alone, without her friend. Rose Rita is also going through an identity crisis. She's 13 and finding that she's not like other girls. She'd rather dress like a boy and play sports. She's more about adventure and wants to go to boy scout camp with Lewis. Mrs. Zimmerman, Lewis' next door neighboor, picks up on Rose Rita's sadness and offers her an adventure for the summer. Mrs. Zimmerman has received a letter from her recently deceased cousin. He has left her his farm in his will and along with the farm, he has left her a magic ring. Mrs. Zimmerman is an experienced witch and doesn't know if the ring truly exists but thinks it's in her best interest to go investigate. Her and Rose Rita embark on a summer adventure with many twists and turns in what is definitely the most suspenseful novel of the trilogy. I really enjoyed this series. The books are witty, adventurous, gloomy, magical, and above all very human. Great for children. Bellairs did a great job examining real life issues in children and young adults. Lewis is a child dealing with the loss of both of his parents, being over weight, unpopular, and not your "typical male". Rose Rita is a tomboy, likes sports, hates dresses, and likes to hang out with boys. He addresses these issues perfectly and builds these characters as strong, bold, unique individuals that are empowered and brave. Two thumbs way up for John Bellairs!

John Bellairs is best known as the author of sixteen gothic mystery novels for young adults comprising the Lewis Barnavelt, Anthony Monday, and Johnny Dixon series. "The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring" (1976) is the third book in the Lewis Barnavelt series, although the story is really about his friend, Rose Rita. So far from what I've read of this author, his characters tend to be elderly eccentrics, or ordinary children (no superkids, here). Rose Rita is a tomboy with a great pitching arm, but she is currently mad at the world. Her friend, Lewis Barnavelt is going to Boy Scout camp for the summer, and he is the only one who appreciates her for what she is: a girl who has no interest in growing up into a world of "skirts and nylons, lipsticks and powder puffs, dating and dancing" which are all waiting for her in Junior High---It's a shame Rita Rose feels obligated to make a choice between sports and dating, but this is early 1950s America. When old Mrs. Zimmerman offers to take Rose Rita on a trip to see the farm she just inherited from her cousin, Oley, she jumps at the chance. Her father is reluctant to let her go because Mrs. Zimmerman is reputed to be the town screwball, but he finally gives in to Rose Rita and her mother. Luckily he doesn't know that Mrs. Zimmerman is a witch. Rose Rita sees her friend pull up in her brand-new 1950 Plymouth and off they go for a couple of weeks in the woods of Northern Michigan. Unfortunately the new green Plymouth runs out of gas a few miles from Mrs. Zimmerman's newly inherited farmhouse, and the two must trek to the nearest gas station. A really nasty old woman overcharges Mrs. Zimmerman for a can of gas, and Mrs. Zimmerman recognizes her as Gert Bigger, an old rival in love. (Rose Rita has difficulty believing that either one of them could have loved or been loved). When Mrs. Zimmerman and Rose Rita finally arrive at the farmhouse in the woods, they realize that it has been ransacked. The ring that Oley had found and believed to be magic has been stolen. When Mrs. Zimmerman herself disappears, it is up to Rose Rita to solve the deepening mystery. Don't expect milksop magic or easy solutions from this author. Rose Rita has to confront both interior and exterior demons, and comes very close to death before Bellairs winds down to his usual cocoa and cookies (well, roasted marshmallows in this story) ending.

John Bellairs' "The Letter, the Witch and the Ring" was the last in his Lewis Barnavelt series that he saw through completion before his death in 1991, Brad Strickland then continued the series, but never reached near the great thrill involved in this outstanding adventure. "The Letter, the Witch and the Ring" follows "The Figure in the Shadows" which I found rather disappointing and is the third in "The House with a Clock in its Walls" or Lewis Barnavelt series, this one however, hardly includes Lewis, instead, Rose Rita Pottinger introduced at the end of the first book stars in this great sequel. Rose Rita Pottinger isn't looking forward to summer, her best friend Lewis is going away to camp and she'll be left all alone, there's an opportunity for her to join a girls camp, but she does not want to spend summer with other girls, mainly because she is a tomboy and believes that boys get to have all the fun. Nearby, Mrs. Zimmermann receives a letter from her late cousin Oley inviting her to pay a visit to the now deserted farm up in Wisconsin, which Mrs. Zimmermann has now inherited as well as an old snake-shaped ring which Cousin Oley believes might be magic. Mrs. Zimmermann invites Rose Rita in what-seems like an ordinary trip to the north, instead what they encounter is a thrilling unforgettable adventure facing the wicked witch Gert Bigger! When Mrs. Zimmermann and Rose Rita arrive at Oley's Farm in the old green 1950 Playmouth (Named Bessie), they find that the place has been broken into and the ring stolen. Now the mystery is, who would want the ring and for what? Things go very wrong and seem to be getting worse and worse, more frightening for Rose Rita, especially after Mrs. Zimmermann mysteriously disappears. Luckily for Rose Rita, she's able to meet some new friends there, for instance, the Sipes family, who although sometimes become trouble for the girl, their intentions are always good. What I loved most about this great book was its atmosphere, it seems surrounded by a somewhat gloomy, yet cozy feeling and the different events are chilling, sometimes you might even feel your heart-rate speed up enourmously. Indeed the greatest among all of the Lewis Barnavelt series I have read! A winner!

I remembered this book from when I was a kid, so I bought a copy of it for the nostalgia.. It was still such a great fantasy book! I would recommend it to any child of today.. forget Harry Potter, this is the original!