The Watcher

The summer that her parents move to Grandpa MacFey's farm, 15-year-old Emma finds that nothing will ever be the same again. Her mother has become the keeper of her dead father's bees, her father is building a strange sculpture in a nearby field, and her sister Summer is fading away. Who are The Watchers? Emma knows that they are not the people she has grown up with --- or are they? She alone in her family has the strange birthmark, two moons with an arrow shaft through them. When Tom Krift comes to work for her father, Emma discovers that he also bears the birthmark. Is her father's sculpture, which he has named Bruide Henge, a portal to another world? Who are the strange people who have suddenly appeared in the village and who inhabit Emma's dreams? Emma seeks answers from Tom Krift who claims that he too is a Watcher and that they must save Summer. Can she trust him, or is he part of the plot to harm her sister and her family? Emma's life spins out of control when she takes a job caring for an eccentric elderly neighbor and becomes involved in the board game Fidchell. Emma proves herself a worthy opponent. However, does she have the courage to play out the real game of life and death that will draw in each member of her family as she tries to understand her role in this frightening new magical world? Once again, Winnipeg writer and artist Margaret Buffie has taken seeming ordinary people and thrust them into a bizarre, magical world to create a frightening and intriguing story. --- Reviewed by Audrey Marie Danielson

In The Watcher, 15 yr old Emma finds out that she, like others of her kind, was literaly bred to watch over important children; hence the name. In the begining of the book, Emma thinks she is an ordinary teen with a weird family. Then she gets strange dreams about diferent worlds, and a child;the niece of the dead king of some wierd world. While taking care of an elderly neighbor, she finds out that she is not who she thinks she is. Things only get wierder when a classmate, Tom Krift, starts geting interested in her fathers plexiglass henge. It is Tom that tells her that her sister is wanted,as is she.

I'm almost 15 and a pretty average reader and I didn't find Watcher the least bit confusing. It was easy to follow and I couldn't put it down. The places Emma goes to and the people she meets I thought were amazing. I didn't want it to end. Yes, the ending is a mix of happy and sad, but I found it more than satisfying. It's pretty clear to most readers, I bet, that there's a second Watcher book coming after this.

Emma's always knew she's been different than her escentric thinkign family. WHen it comes to appearence her fair skin and blond hair a big contrast to her darker, tanner, family. When it comes to personality she's alwasy been much more serious and organized. But when she takes a new job helping out on an elderly man's house her life takes a magical turn. Suddenly everythign she know's is a lie. Her past is a mystery and she has a casue she never thought existed.I absolutely loved this book. It was orginal, magical, and hearful. Emma is someone you can totally relate to. If your a fan of books that take place when the normal clashes with the supernatural this is definatly a book for you. This is the first book I've read by this author but definatly not the last! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This book is great! When I first got it from the library, it seemed strange, but once you read it this book is amazing! When Emma starts having dreams, she doesn't understand how they are linked to the board game she played with the old man. And why does strange Tom Krift seem to be where ever she is? This book is worthwhile to read!