Fun and clever and exciting. ( )

.

a town is "farmed" by 7 para normal beings but who is keeping them prisoners in it?

When Quentin Sykes takes a suggestion to cure his writer's block by starting to write 2,000 words and send them to the nice man he met playing golf, it sounded like a good idea, and it worked. Unfortunately, when one of his essays goes missing he finds out that his words may have more power than he thought, in fact they may be the only thing stopping seven seven wizard siblings from taking over the world. I found this book very entertaining. The world that was fun,different, and full of surprises. I liked how the Sykes family dealt with the craziness of their situation and I found the characters quite likable. The mystery was fun to figure out. Although I did guess it before the big reveal, it was not obvious from the start. Diana Wynne Jones definitely always has a fresh perspective on the fantasy genre and I look forward to reading more of her books. ( )

I remember reading this book in middle school, long ago, and loving it for its sheer unpredictability and inventiveness. It holds up even better than I had hoped it would. ( )