The Salem Witch Tryouts

The Salem Witch Tryouts

Prudence Stewart had it all at Beverly Hills High: straight A's, the cutest crush, and a sweet gig as captain of the cheerleading squad. Then poof! Mom and Dad announce they're moving to Salem, Massachusetts. Turns out, Pru comes from a long line of witches and it's time for her to learn the craft. Buh-bye, Beverly Hills High -- hello, Agatha's Day School! But Pru's not about to trade in her spirit stick for a broomstick! She's sure she can keep her kewl at her new school -- until she discovers it's all magic, all the time, and she's failing Witchcraft 101. Worst of all, even the cheerleaders bring a special "spirit" to their routine. As in, triple-back-somersault-with-a-twist kind of spirit. It's time for Pru to cast a spell and prove she's just as enchanting as the next girl -- and somehow make cheering tryouts a flying S-U-C-C-E-S-S! Grade 7-9–At Beverly Hills High, Prudence is a big deal: popular, star and soon-to-be head of the cheerleading squad, and a straight-A student. She is also half-witch, half-mortal, and, though she doesn't use her magic in public, her younger brother, Tobias, has been unable to control his abilities. To avoid what could be a major scandal if the family's heritage were to come to light, Prudence's parents have decided to move to Salem, MA, where both children can learn to hone their craft at Agatha's Day School for Witches. There, Prudence discovers that her lack of formal training has made her somewhat of an outcast. She has to attend remedial classes and can't fully participate in the school's cheerleading squad because the routines involve magic. This fish-out-of-water story is truly terrible, and neither Wicca enough nor romantic enough to allow it to fit in either of the genres to which it aspires. Much of the narrative tension and humor are supposed to revolve around the dual existence of magic and mortal worlds and the fact that the pure witch group seems clueless about the lives and lifestyles of the mortals. Because the magic and mortal worlds seem to exist on the same physical plane, this confusion is a little ridiculous. –Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Kelly McClymer was born in South Carolina, but crossed the Mason-Dixon line to live in Delaware at age six. After one short stint living in South Carolina during junior high, she has remained above the line, and now lives in Maine with her husband and three children. Writing has been Kelly's passion since her sixth grade essay on how to not bake bread earned her an A plus. After cleaning up the bread dough that oozed on to the floor, she gave up bread making for good and turned to writing as a creative outlet. A graduate of the University of Delaware (English major, of course) she spends her days writing and teaching writing. Look for her next book, The Salem Witch Tryouts, from Simon Pulse in Fall 2006.