2008-09-10 Sheer magic!

Caroline Pitcher's Year of Changes quartet of short novels for children aged 8 or 9 years plus has now been published by Egmont in a single volume titled Shaman Boy. Over the four seasons of a single year, Luka discovers his power to meld his mind with those of animals in the countryside surrounding his war-torn village. The cloud cat or snow leopard is the first and most powerful. An eagle, a swallow, an otter and a wolf - all help Luka fight the black magic of the evil Vaskalia and her unhappy son Simlin. The shaman boy brings new hope to the orphans in his village, but will he find his own long-lost mother? This is classic story-telling in great style. The characters are engaging. The action is exciting. You won't want it to stop.