Millicent, who was born into a family with magical abilities, will receive on her fourteenth birthday the power to grant one wish, but, unlike her female relatives, her older brothers want her to reject her powers and live a normal life. Rinaldi crams in too many issues, the characters are underdeveloped, and the fantasy elements don't ring true. From HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr. 5-8. «Sometimes I wish I was normal, like everybody else. Believe me, this Gift is a drag,» confides Millicent on the second page of her narrative. She could reject it, but, of course, she doesn't. Born into a family where spells and shape shifting are a matter of self-discipline and training. Millicent is coming to the age when she can make one wish that will be granted. When her new friends in high school learn of her gift, she is besieged with requests for help and must convince them that they've been listening to rumors. This features a strong first-person voice and layered characterizations. Although the magic angle will initially attract readers, the most riveting aspect of the novel is neither the increasingly problematic intersection of magic and reality in Millicent's life, nor the subplot of friendship and betrayal, but the convincing portrayal of relationships within a complex family. Carolyn Phelan.

Millicent will soon be 14 and if she studies her Celtic mythology enough, she will be certified to use her Power, a Gift handed down to females in her family from an ancestor in 16th-century England. The ensuing story about Millicent and her family includes the mysterious death of a younger sister, an absent father, the drug-induced death of a town teenager, robberies committed by the ex-con father of Millicent's best friend, the drug bust of twin brother Dexter's friend, and assorted other dramas. With so much action, this should be a page-turner. But the prolific Rinaldi (Numbering All the Bones, p. 498, etc.), best known for her historical fiction, has trouble incorporating the disparate elements into a convincing or engaging whole. The point of the magic powers is never explained satisfactorily. When Millicent uses her powers to shape-shift into a deer, she intones a corny-sounding spell in language that is completely out of character and unexpectedly recalls the prologue's Celtic reference: "And I shall go in the animal's name, aye, and walk amongst them, and hear joys and woes, and I'll come home again." The busy plot and the challenges of being magical in an ordinary world seem to be grafted together in an unsuccessful operation. (Fiction. 12-14) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gr 5-9-There's a lot packed into this contemporary coming-of-age novel, including elements of magic and mystery, and strong themes of what friendship and family really mean. As she approaches her birthday, Millicent must decide how and if she wants to use the magical powers that run in her family. At 14, she will be able to have a single wish granted, as long as she avoids telling a lie until then. While these decisions approach, Millicent also starts going to school for the first time and makes her first real friend outside her close-knit family. This family, introduced in a prefatory "Cast of Characters" chapter, includes her much older brother, Mac, who is responsible for raising his younger siblings since their parents' separation, and is the local chief of police. Mac's no-nonsense approach to life earns both respect and frustration from Millicent. When both get involved in stopping a series of neighborhood thefts, their contentious relationship comes to a head. Though magic is a big part of Millicent's world, the novel really centers more around her relationship with Mac. With such a large cast of characters and sometimes scattered plot threads, though, it takes a while for the story to get moving. The mixture of magic and family dynamics is intriguing, and the eventual conclusion is fairly satisfying, but some readers may lose interest before then.-Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.