Changes

{{infobox

|title=The Apothecary

|author=Maile Meloy

|reviewer=Mary Esther Judy

|borrow=Yes

|isbn=9781849395069

|pages=368

|publisher=Andersen Press

|summary=Janie Scott suddenly finds herself thrown into a world of secrets and spies and developing nuclear capability.... and the only thing that may save us all is a little dose of magic.

}}

When 14 year old Janie Scott moves to London from California, she finds it cold, dreary and endlessly dull. She doesn’t fit in at her new school, St. Bedens, and getting used to life in 1950’s London, a life so different to the one she left behind, seems impossible. Then she meets Benjamin Burrows, another misfit. Benjamin wants to be a spy, and at the height of the Cold War, opportunities for espionage abound. But when Benjamin’s father, the local (and mysterious) apothecary is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin get pulled into a world they could only imagine. Entrusted with the apothecary’s book of ancient knowledge, they must use it to track down Benjamin’s father, all the while keeping it from the hands of Russian spies with nuclear weapons. It seems the only chance to save the world may actually be magic.

If you enjoyed The Apothecary, and are interested in great reads where improbable things happen with alarming regularity, you also love [[When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead]]. Also try [[Tanglewreck by Jeanette Winterson]] for even more incredible goings on!

{{commenthead}}