Like I said, this book didn't interest me too much. Some of the stories were good, but the others were a waste of time. I suggest going out and buying a different book.

These wonderful short stories are twisted, enjoyable fast reads that no Harry Potter fan should miss while waiting for book five to arrive. It has all kinds of witty witch stories, from the truly scary "Lost Soul" and "Past Sunset" to the laugh-out-loud funny "To Converse With the Dumb Beasts" and "Boy Witch." The off-the-wall fantasies engross readers from the beginning and don't let go even after the last page is turned. The forward and afterword from the author explaining her insperation and the collection's title are interesting, but don't add anything to the book and are at times bland, the reason this book only gets four stars. Still, they're not bad and you shouldn't skip them, especially if you become a fan of the book. All in all, a collection of short stories you won't want to pass up. Great, and highly reccomended!

At first I couldn't stand how these stories end, but then I realized that if they ended the way I wished they would, they wouldn't be half as interesting or as thought-provoking. It would just be a well told, cliched archetype we've all heard a million times.

Fives points to Vivian Vande Velde for another awesome book!

This book is about a girl named Amy, and one day as she was walking to school she found a dog. For what had happened next she did not expect, "Excuse me but I'm lost, can you help me?" Amy was very surprised from what she heard, especialy from a dog. After that they became best friends. He escaped from a lab, because he heard people were going to disect his brain! Amy decided to name him Sherlock, because he was so smart.

This story is about a dog named Sherlock who escapes from a university lab because he fears for his life. Sherlock is a lab experiment dog with human intelligence and even the ability to speak. Sherlock sees a girl named Amy on her way to school and asks her for help. Amy is a typical fifth grader. She's not very popular and has never really stood out.

Upon the discovery of Sherlock, Amy's life becomes very exciting. While many of the kids at school never learn that Sherlock can speak, they all see that he is a special dog, and that makes Amy more popular. Also, she has to work up creative plans to keep Sherlock hidden from the people at the University lab.

The girls in the book club (all about aged 10) enjoyed this book tremendously.

This book is a scooby snack on each page.It starts out with a regular girl named Amy. One day she met named Sherlock who could talk! Later she finds out that Sherlock came from a science lab that wants to dissect his brain. The professer calls him F-32.He asks Amy for help and she says yes. Later that week the professor finds him. Will Amy have to let them dissect his brain?
[name]

What would it be like for a wolf to be compelled to take the form of a man? Starting with this premise, Vivian Vande Velde writes a riveting story about Weiland, who was captured by Daria as a young cub and raised mainly as a human. However, Daria, no matter how brutal her tactics, had not been able to destroy the basic decency of Weiland's nature.

Daria, who heretofore, had been content to live in the forest served by her transformed creatures, has decided to move to a townhouse in St. Celia's. Weiland is one of those who are to accompany her. In St. Celia's Weiland comes in contact with large groups of humans for the first time including a thief named Shile.

Through Shile, Weiland learns a great deal that he he never knew before about what it means to be a man.

Well written and compelling, Vivian Vande Velde draws the reader into Weiland's world with a sure touch. This one is guaranteed to appeal to adult fantasy lovers as well as younger readers.

I picked this book up on a whim, after having read Vande Velde's "Companions of the Night". I liked this book just as much. Vande Velde has a way of weaving words that will completely draw you into her story. You relate to this character, even if he is a 16 year old boy who spends his life going back and forth between his wolf and human forms. And though the book has a very young main character, the writing does not talk down to the reader. Weiland is very child-like in the way he doesn't understand the world, be he learns and grows. He is a strong lead for this book, and you will fall in love with him the moment you meet him. This book is fantastic, and keeps you guessing all the way up until the twist ending. Don't miss out on this one!

The synopsis of this book misses what makes this book so engaging! Weiland has spent 16 hellish years in Daria's remote castle with few companions (all of whom were formerly wolves, racoons, mice, birds or other animals.) Daria herself is a very cruel woman whose inconsistent (and sadistic) actions leave Weiland always in the dark as to whether he has fallen out of favor or not. Daria decides to move to the big city. Weiland, and other member of Daria's household (mice as lady's in waiting etc) all learn about the real world. Weiland also sees an even darker side to Daria, which his growing conscience will not allow him to ignore, even though stopping Daria means becoming a wolf for the rest of his life. Well crafted emotional and psychological tension! NOT for the very young. Also note, this is actually a prequel to the Conjurer Princess, which is also a very good read.

Hi, I am here to tell you about the book Magic Can Be Murder. The author of this book is Vivian Vande Velde. There are 197 pages in this book. The author also wrote newbery winning story, Never Trust A Dead Man.Ther genre of this book is fantasybecause i contains a lot of magic in this book.
The setting of this book is about our time. The story is about a daugter and a mother. It starts at this one place where they are slaves for this one man to get food. The man thinks she is nice and they run away casting magic at them with magic...
Will they stay or will they get out?
The things that I liked about this book, are that it is a suspense book,adventure, and you try to find out what the book means.
I would reccomend this book to teen kids that a school might want to read together with a group. Again please read Magic Can Be Murder. THE END

While Magic Can be Murder was a captivating story there was definatly something lacking in it. It was "short and sweet." It was possible to see the outcome of the stroy before you were even half way through the book. I was also disappointed in the fact that the romance part of the book was so story bookish. They meet, fall in love, and well, although the book doesn't say it, its implied that they "live happily ever after." This is not the way real people act, which was odd, because all through the story Velde seemed to be trying to make her characters seem real and react like real people (excluding the magic parts). So although it was a very intersting story, it had its down points.

The setting of this book is unspecified, but it appears to be a historical one, most likely the countryside of fuedal Europe based on the information provided. Since she was five, Nola and her widowed mother have had to keep moving from town to town because they are witches. Now she is seventeen, and wishes she could just stay in one place. But things become even more complicated for Nola when she magically witnesses a murder. When she uses magic to pose as a servant in the murdered man's household and see if she was suspected, she learns she wasn't. However, in her disguise she is a suspect! Now she is caught up in the investigation, and there will be danger, adventure, and romance along the way for her until the thrilling conclusion. An unusual and highly entertaining story that combines fantasy and mystery. I read the book all in one sitting and couldn't put it down.

I read the book Being Dead by Vivian Vande Velde. This book has seven stories in one book. The first story was the best. It was about a girl named Brenda and her family moving to a small town. When they were unloading boxes, the phone rang. Brenda picked it up. The answer was a bell ringing like the ones on a bicycle. A little voice said,"Help me." and that was all. Brenda's dad came into the house and said,"Brenda, the phone wont be hooked up until Monday."
See how Brenda gets through all the other weird things that is happening to her.

This is a collection of seven of Vivian Vande Velde's stories, ranging from stories made of eight pages to stories that are sixty pages. They are all quite enjoyable, especially the ones with surprising endings. They are a quick and simple read, I highly recommend the book. Here I'll say a little of each of the stories:
Drop by Drop: this isn't your everyday 'there's a ghost in my house with unfinished business' story. Brenda Keehn has just moved into a new house in the middle of nowhere and is receiving mysterious phone calls from a child who supposedly wants help when the phone lines haven't even been set up yet. When Brenda doesn't want to help, the child-ghost tempermentally throws Brenda's clothes off their hangers. Brenda doesn't like the thought of hanging up all her clothes everyday for the rest of her life and so decides to help. And as she starts communicating with the ghost, her story starts to unfold. But does Brenda really want to know the true story?
Dancing with Marjorie's Ghost: For the purpose of appearing brave in front of his neighbors, Conrad Sharpe swears of his regret to his recently dead wife. But his swear is more than it appears.
Shadow Brother: Sarah had always cared for her older brother. He had always been the nice, caring older brother to her: for example, he scared away the dogs who threatened Sarah. He wouldn't come back after his death to haunt the family...would he?
The Ghost: this was (to me) the most puzzling story out of all of them. But still quite enjoyable. College students are planning to rent a supposedly haunted building. But what if the 'ghost' doesn't want them there?
For Love of Him: Love isn't what it always seems to be...
October Chill: Emily's dieing. She has inoperable cancer and knows that she'll only last till spring. But her sad days are suddenly brightened when she meets a charming ghost at her work place...
Being Dead: Stewart fell. Stewart fell out of a building window. Stewart fell several floors down. Stewart fell on top of a poor newspaper boy. --> Johnny knew how dangerous it was to cross the street. He looked to the right. The left. In front of him. Behind him. But he had never thought of looking up...

Vivian Vande Velde writes with such a sure grasp of teen dialogue, teen humor and teen life one is convinced that she must be a perpetual teenager herself.

The seven stories in this volume are by turns spine-chilling, rib-tickling and heart tugging. Some of them all at once.

Each story gives us a protagonist with a haunting problem, a sense of grim humor and (with the exception of the sweet but predictable "October Chill") a surprising resolution.

Included here is a tale of near perfection...thrills, chills, mystery and even a little comedy..."Drop by Drop" will make you laugh even while it's scaring you out of a year's growth. The protagonist, Beth, struggles to make friends in a new town--and to wonder WHY she, of her entire family, is haunted by the spirit of an angry little girl. Beth is so funny about her misery, and so typical of the parentally put-upon teenager that we can't help but be sympathetic to her problem. But as the story (it's a long one--64 pages that fly by) unfolds, clues and ominous hints to the nature of the vicious little ghost are also revealed...and they spell disaster for Beth. In fact, this story is not terrifying because of the ghost but because of the disaster her revelation will mean for Beth and her family. I
sat in breathless wonder when I finished this tale. It is the best of a wonderful lot and should be read to all teens of a certain age....

Of the other tales, "Dancing With Marjorie's Ghost" is a great
tale for campfire tellings...the final lines will chill you, "For Love of Him" offers a darker view of romance beyond the grave and "Shadow Brother" will disturb anyone who has an older brother and a father who just don't get along. "The Ghost" is
a short, funny piece that certainly owes much to a certain popular film of a few seasons ago. The title story features one of the wildest ways to die and humorously examines the lengths one will go to to provide for one's family.

In all, a delightfully chilly bit of mist and mirrors, perfect for the young reader who loves ghost stories and wants something fresh, thoughtful and funny.

Vivian Vande Velde turned away from her usual fantasy to produce a sort of ghost story set in WW2. A Coming Evil, while a very readable book, had a number of plot flaws that prevented it from being an excellent one.

The plotting around Gerard is especially weak. His unexpected return to life with the appearance of Lisette was given no logical reason and his 'archaic' speech seemed particularly inaccurate. While reading the book, it was almost as though Vivian Vande Velde was just making illogical things happen to service the plot. Apart from the lack of reasonable grounding, the ending (while certainly suspenseful) seemed rushed and abruptly cut off.

On the other hand, VVV is excellent at creating the right atmosphere, and the WW2 setting works unexpectedly well with the contrast to Gerard's life. Not bad, but on the whole, if you like historical ghost stories, you're much better off trying Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Sherwood Ring.

Lisette hopes the year she turns thirteen will be the best year of her life. Unfortunately for her, the year she turns thirteen is 1940, when the Nazis are in France. On September first, her birthday, her parents send her away to live with her Aunt Josephine in the country because they think she will be safer there than in Paris. Lisette is not happy about going there, partly because she thinks here parents don't want her, and partly because she hates her cousin, Cecile. When she arrives at Aunt Josephine's house, she finds out her aunt is hiding Jews and Gypsies and there is a ghost in the woods. I liked this book because the story is told with a lot of detail. When you read this book, you almost feel like you are there with the characers in the story.

This book is fabulous. Like everything else of hers that I've read, I was DEFINITELY not disappointed by it! Lisette is believable - she's selfish at times, not a perfect little lady. I wanted to strangle Cecile, and I LOVED Gerard. It's a mysterious, intriguing book. Read it. Now.

I thought the premise of this book was a clever one. To explain why the miller said his daugher could spin staw into gold, and why Rumplestiltskin would want a baby. I was shocked to find that in the first story that Rumplestiltskin had tasted all kinds of food, and wondered what a human baby would taste like. The story is titled " A Fairy Tale in Bad Taste." I think it was in bad tasted to include this book. It was to be a book in my daughters 4th grade classroom, but her teacher and I agreed that children don't need to be exposed to this kind of reading content. It is a reading level 5, and I'm not sure what level would enjoy this story. I sure didn't. The other tales were fine, and had cute twists to them. I would suggest you read this story before you give it to children. We may cut the story out and let the children enjoy the rest of the book.

Lately I have been enjoying a bunch of those fairy tale retellings where an author takes a classic tale, such as Beauty and the Beast or Rapunzel, and makes it funny or modern or feminist. The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde takes the old story of Rumpelstiltskin and offers it up in six different ways. The book begins with a hilarious author's note where Vande Velde explains that the story of Rumpelstiltskin makes no sense. Why did the miller start talking to the king in the first place? Why would the troll named Rumpelstiltskin want a baby? Why did he want the poor girl's gold rings if he could spin a whole room of straw into gold? As Vande Velde asks, "What do you think your teacher would say if you handed in a story like this?" So Vande Velde decided to write six different versions of the story- some funny, some scary, and all unique. In one of them, Rumpelstiltskin is the one who comes out on top!
If you think you are too old for fairy tales, you are so wrong. Fairy tales were originally written for adults, and this book of Rumpelstiltskin tales is perfect for anyone looking for an interesting read.

The book starts off with a very good idea: analyze the various flaws of the Rumpelstiltskin story. Why would a father boast that his daughter can spin straw into gold? Why would someone who can spin straw into gold want a gold ring in exchange? Why would Rumpelstiltskin sing his name out loud? Why would the miller's daughter want to marry a king that threatens to cut her head off?
These various questions are either answered by one story or another, or are avoided by a change in the plot. There are some stories that are very sweet and funny, others that seem kind of random (therefore 4 stars).
It seems that author had a great time and enjoyed writing all of them. A more inspired reader would be motivated to write his/ her own versions of this classic.

okay, it's possible I missed something, seeing as I don't play RPG's, but I thought this book had some serious flaws in it! The characters were shallow and unpleasent (always bickering amongst themselves),shallow, unpleasent, and did I mention shallow? I have no sympathy whatsoever for any of them. As soon as I finished reading it, I stuck the book back on my shelf and it will probably stay there and gather dust for years.

As I usually find Velde's stories captivating, not only did I find this one just as good as the last ones, but I also found it very realistic to the world of RPGs. Being a thirteen-year-old girl, you would not think that I'd enjoy many video games; quite the opposite. I found this story was staying true to its roots, having a variety of monster's, characters and weapons. The only thing I didn't get was the age limit on this; ages 9-12. Not only does it have some explicit moments of violence, it also uses words I probably wouldn't have known back then. Overall, good use of monsters, and fighting scenes. Only lacking an ending that doesn't leave anything to the imagination--but then, how many books do?

now this book is very good.it's descriptive.it's itresting.and it's a game. a tenth grader named arvin and his friends are unaware when the get sucked into a virtual reality game.now in this game they all are a generated charecter and are really that person the whole game with that persons memory and fellings.in there case a princess needs to be rescued.now your thinking how original.we'll if you said that read the book.they have tough challenges ahead like arvins mom has a headache the whole time.what's wrong? also they are stuck with computer players. that is until they start to loop.
pros:
descriptive
orginal
page turner

cons:
too short
no sequal[s] as of yet
can't find a book to match it

Hi, I recently read this book and it was really good. I couldn't put it down and I was very surprised about the ending. I really didn't expect what happened to have happened. She is an excellent author. I have now read 3 of her books. This one, including Curses,INC. and Dragon's Bait. In fact, I logged on to see if she wrote a sequel to Dragon's Bait and was severly disappointed to see she has not. If you read this Ms. Velde, please write a sequel to that book! Thank you

When awkward 16-year-old Lylene's sister is kidnapped at her own wedding Lylene will do anything to get her back. Even if it means dragging herself to the local wizard, offering her services in cooking and cleaning in order to learn magic. The wizard she works for isn't kind or good, he's shrewed and selfish but does manage to give her magic... with interesting results. Suddenly Lylene is on her own with new powers that she doesn't understand and can't always control but she still needs to finish her mission. Meeting two new unlikely companions, Weiland and Shile, the three set off to rescue Lylene's rescue, but it may prove to be too dangerous for them.

I thought this book was entertaining and amusing. Lylene's adventure is exciting. You'll want to read this book in one sitting. The only complaint I have with it are the serious lack of good descriptions. It makes the book seemed rushed at times. but if you like fast paced books you probably won't mind. Having only read one book before by Vivian Vande Velde before this I'm new interested in reading another. It's sequel, the Challengeing Prince, looks just as good. I reccomend this to you if you love young adult fantasy novels that takes place in midevil times. Enjoy!

I picked this book up at the library just because it looked interesting. Now I'm hooked. Vivian Vande Velde's way of drawing you into the story has me yearning for more.

On her sister Beryl's wedding day, Lylene watches in horror as she is kidnapped on the altar. She knows something must be done but the law and church have turned a blind eye to the matter. Lylene determines that the task of saving her sister has fallen to her. Her quest takes her to the door of a wizard whom she bargains with to teach her magic. But that bargain has a dark side that Lylene is too late in finding out.
Now on her own again, armed only with her newly acquired magic, she stumbles into the lives of two theives, Shile and Weiland, who help her out of a bad situation. Seeing that Lylene can not complete this mission on her own, they agree to help her rescue her sister.

Peppered with adventure, intrigue, betrayal, humor and a smidge of romance, Vivian Vande Velde has weaved a truly superb fantasy that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The ending was a little abrupt and left me wondering what happens to our heros but all in all it was a tremendous read that I highly recommend.

Also recommended: THE CHANGELING PRINCE, COMPANIONS OF THE NIGHT, DRAGON'S BAIT...basically anything by Vande Velde.

Lylene is not your average sixteen-year old. Instead of obsessing over what to wear, or who to marry, she is more concerned with saving her sister Beryl's life. In the Conjurer Princess, the young heroine of the story faces many tough challenges while befriending two handsome men. I picked up this novel while at a book fair in my school several years ago. Within that time span, I must have read this book 10 times or more. It's a truely great book; it's of fantasy genre, so of course I would love it. I believe this to be Vivian Van Velde's greatest work. I've read Curses, Inc. but couldn't really get into it, and I've also read Companions of the Night, another great book, but did not intrigue me as much as Conjurer Princess. This should be a must-have for all fantasy lovers!