THE WITCH TRADE

Incomparable narrator Bill Wallis plus Michael Molloy's delightful adventure-fantasy about White Witches, Black Witches, Sea Witches, and some very smart, brave children equals an audiobook that one wishes would last forever. It's also a children's audio that adults will want to borrow for their own pleasure. This is a story about how Abby Clover and her friend Spike, who live in an unusual seaside village, meet Captain Starlight (a.k.a. The Ancient Mariner) and a giant albatross named Benbow, and how they all set out to save the Light Witches' ice dust and rescue the Sea Witches' children from the truly awful (and smelly) Black Witches. Wallis masters every voice, from that of the American Ancient Mariner to the dramatically British Master of the Light Witches. He also manages to make the children sound authentic and fully realized without being squeaky. In between, his warm, well-paced narration ushers us through the cliff-hanging adventure with nary a moment of panic. A book to treasure. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 05]