Carol Moore's Reviews > Crystal Magic

“Crystal Magic” is an interesting, well-plotted book. Since it’s also the first book in a series, it doesn’t come to anything like a satisfying conclusion, instead it ends with a huge cliff-hanger.

Kristyl Barnette lives with her mom, her dad took off long ago. Kristyl has scary powers. When she gets upset, weird things happen, so the other kids call her a freak and pick on her. Since she has a reputation as a trouble-maker, she’s often in trouble in school. As she waits in the office for her mother to arrive after yet another episode, she’s informed that there was an accident.

After her mother’s funeral, she goes to live with her Aunt Jody. The first morning at her new school, a collision with another girl results in coffee spilt all over her clothes and a new enemy – who is also named Crystal. On the way to class, a boy named Owen gives her a sweatshirt to cover up the coffee stain, gives her a new nickname, Krissa, and leads the way to her first class. At lunch, Owen introduces her to his friends who welcome her into their group. Best of all, after a confrontation with the other Crystal, Kristyl doesn’t get the blame!

For the first time in her life, Kristyl has friends. She has a beautiful new room with her own bathroom. Aunt Jody, who has a new age store selling herbs, crystals and gem stones, even pays her for helping out in the store.

There’s something about this town, however. When she tried on a ring she found in her room, she had a vision of her father. Aunt Jody said it was her dad's ring. Her friends think that Crystal is a witch. Fox, a boy she’s met in school is a girl magnet – even when the girls are interested in other boys.

Aside from her powers, Krissa is a fairly typical teen, dealing with angst-ridden teen issues, but she has bigger problems which she meets head-on. I’m actually looking forward to the second book in the series.