Here we are at the second of three books in the Tartan Magic Series and we rejoin Peter, Jennifer and Molly still on vacation in Scotland with parents (visiting their grandparents). With just Gran and the kids home for the day...and what with it being a typically rainy Scottish weather, Gran and the kids set off to visit some of her friends at the Eventide Home for the Elderly. Returning in this volume is the dog and horse from the first book, both serve largely to provide humor in the story line and I've come to love that cranky, sarcastic old mutt!

While the group is visiting Gran's coven, Molly (the youngest) is given a talisman which sets them off on yet another magical adventure to save the world from a power hungry villain! The group joins up with Ninia a Pictish girl from the ancient past who is being chased by an ominous dark mist and it's up to the kids and their Gran to solve the mystery, get the girl back to her time and foil the villain!

This is a wonderful little story for young readers (I'd say 8-14 is the ideal range here), while there's not much to the character development, it's got great pace and a fair amount of suspense and with the proper attention, readers can figure out "who done it" just before it's revealed. I'm a bit disappointed to see that Peter is still portrayed as a brooding, moody and somewhat prone to temper tantrums (he stalks off from the home) and the focus of this story, as in the first, is on Molly and her emerging magical skills. Since they are twins, it would be nice to see a more even development of the characters. Overall, I give it a B, it's fast paced, suspenseful, magical, and just plain fun! ( )

This link to the Green Man Review might work"
http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_yolen_tartanomni.html ( )

http://www.greenmanreview.com/yolen.omni.htm ( )