SuitabookMaking sense of unusual experiences
Abby experiences sounds and pictures connected with objects, while questioning her mother’s explanation of inherited powers.
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Book details
Zilpha Keatley Snyder - Author
This is a child-centred story about making sense of an unusual experience while navigating family beliefs, friendship and possible involvement in investigative work. Its central interest is Abby’s uncertainty about what her ability means.
Abby O'Malley is a girl who likes things to make sense. School makes sense, and her best friend Paige makes sense (most of the time), but Abby's flighty mother never makes sense. Abby's mom seems to think that she and Abby are descended from a line of witches, and that they have special powers--psychic powers that don't make sense at all. The problem is, Abby knows that she can do certain things that other people can't. Sometimes, when she holds an object in her hand, she's overpowered by sounds and pictures that show where the owner is and what he or she is doing. Abby thinks of this as her "magic nation," because that is what her kindergarten teacher told her it was called. Now 11, Abby has an inkling that her teacher may have been saying it was her "imagination," which unfortunately, she knows it is not. Now some things are happening in her mother's detective agency--cases where Abby's magic nation thing might come in handy. But does Abby want to admit that such a sensible girl could have such an unsensible power?From the Hardcover edition.
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Sign in for personalised guidanceThis is a child-centred story about making sense of an unusual experience while navigating family beliefs, friendship and possible involvement in investigative work. Its central interest is Abby’s uncertainty about what her ability means.
Abby experiences sounds and pictures connected with objects, while questioning her mother’s explanation of inherited powers.
The supernatural element is presented through Abby’s experiences and her mother’s interpretation. Consider whether the story treats the ability as empowering, troubling, explainable, or deliberately unresolved.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: the current material supports only a cautious reading; another book-specific source is still needed.
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