By Tami Benedict

Our Town

Life was pretty good for Morgan Rowlands. She had an amazing family and great friends and happened to be one of the smartest people in school. Everything was perfect. Well, until Cal Blaire came to town.

"Sweep — Book of Shadows" by Cate Tiernan begins on the first day of the school year for Morgan, who figures she will venture out and be a big, bad junior.

When Morgan arrives at school, she meets up with her usual friends and begins her new school year. To her surprise, there’s a cute new student around — Cal Blaire. Cal introduces himself to Morgan and her friends and invites them to a party. Everyone agrees to go, but when they arrive at the party, it isn’t anything like what they thought it would be.

See, Cal Blaire is a wizard — and a very powerful one at that. He wants his newfound friends to join a coven with him. Some laugh and some are scared, but most agree to try the new coven with him.

At their first "circle," Morgan is surprised at how alive she feels. Learning Wicca was the best thing to happen to her, she thinks — until something freaky happens.

At one of their circles, Morgan believes she can see peoples’ "auras," but she is too afraid to tell anyone. Now, Morgan is coming into her new witch self. And she might be more powerful the she thinks. Morgan has new enemies she must face and some surprising news, all while trying to master her Wicca. But can she do it and stay alive?

I loved this book. It is different from any other science fiction book I’ve read about witches. It shows a side of Wicca that no one knows about. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good science fiction book, but I must warn you — once you pick it up it is impossible to put down. This is the start of an eight-book series.

The next book I will review is the now-famous "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."