Bibliographical information:

Pratchett, Terry. Wintersmith. New York: Harper Collins, 2006. (Book 3 in the Tiffany Aching series)

Brief summary:

Witch-in-training Tiffany Aching steps into the Dark Morris dance, inadvertently taking the role of the Summer Lady and leading the Wintersmith to fall in love with her. She must extricate herself from this relationship, not only because she does not want to marry the Wintersmith, but also because his pursuit of her wreaks havoc on the surrounding landscape.

Comments:

Like The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith is great fun. Pratchett mixes an exciting adventure (and a hint of romance) with humor, rich language, and interesting wordplay. Both my daughter and I enjoyed Wintersmith very much, and we liked it better than A Hat Full of Sky. Despite the title, Wintersmith has more warmth; relationships have developed over the course of the series, and seem richer and stronger. We also found the balance between humor and seriousness somewhat different than that in The Wee Free Men. Tiffany is more mature in Wintersmith, and the lessons that she's learning seem subtler and more weighty. There's still ribald humor about nudity, flatulence, and cursing, but there's less of it relative to the serious treatment of love, death, and responsibility.

Grade/Age level:

Ages 10 and up

Cautions:

--Lisa Gordis

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