Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz

Splendors and Glooms
Laura Amy Schlitz
Candlewick Press
384 pgs.


When Clara vanishes after the puppeteer Grisini and two orphaned assistants were at her twelfth birthday party, suspicion of kidnapping chases the trio away from London and soon the two orphans are caught in a trap set by Grisini's ancient rival, a witch with a deadly inheritance to shed before it is too late.

The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty

The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty
Harcourt Children's Books
2011
345p.

In early twentieth-century New York, Sacha Kessler's ability to see witches earns him an apprenticeship to the police department's star Inquisitor, Maximillian Wolf, to help stop magical crime and, with fellow apprentice Lily Astral, Sacha investigates who is trying to kill Thomas Edison, whose mechanical witch detector that could unleash the worst witch-hunt in American history.

Plain Kate by Erin Bow

Plain Kate by Erin Bow (will soon be ordered by SJCPL)

Arthur A. Levine Books
2010
314 p.

Summary:  Plain Kate's odd appearance and expertise as a woodcarver cause some to think her a witch, but friendship with a talking cat and, later, with humans help her to survive and even thrive in a world of magic, charms, and fear.