The third (presumably final, but perhaps there will be a subsidiary trilogy that follows?) in the Magic or Madness trilogy. As with much “Young Adult” fiction, the brevity ultimately disappoints: I wasn’t ready to stop reading these characters when book 2 ended, nor am I ready now. Some things in this book that felt ickier than in the previous ones / but maybe I had just forgotten those feelings, I can’t be sure. Tom’s refusal to give up magic really stuck with me. The way he infuses the clothes he makes is one of my favorite images from the books.

Good, most of the storylines came full circle, but ultimately too short. Not enough. (Then again, I pretty much ALWAYS feel that way about kids’ books. Are kids really satisfied by them? Do they not want more? I wish I could remember….)

If you search on this page, you can find what I said about the previous two (in the April 16 and May 13, 2006 entries).