Please note that this review may contain spoilers for The Circle of Power. You can read my review of this novel [here].
The Sprite Sisters series is written by Sheridan Winn and focuses on the adventures of four magical girls as they protect their home from an evil witch. The series is aimed at middle grade readers and currently contains eight novels – The Circle of Power (2008), The Magic Unfolds (2008), The Secret of the Towers (2009), The Ghost in the Tower (2009), New Magic (2010), The Boy with the Hawk-like Eyes (2012), Magic at Drysdale’s School (2013) and The Mystery of the Locked Room (2014). For the purpose of this review I’ll be looking at the second and third books only.
Flame, Marina, Ash and Ariel are four sisters who share a secret – they are each able to use a different kind of elemental magic. Such powers have always run in the Sprite family, although not every member can use them. The only person who knows about the power that the girls possess is their Grandmother. To reveal magic to someone who can’t use it themselves is to risk losing it forever.
In The Magic Unfolds, the four sisters are forced to confront the evil Glenda Glass once again as she tries to use her magic to damage the roof of Sprite Towers. If she succeeds, the Sprite’s Dad could never afford the repairs and would have no choice but to sell the house. The Sprites know that only their combined magic can protect the Towers but they find themselves out of balance. Marina has befriended Glenda’s granddaughter, Verena, and in doing so has driven a wedge between herself and her sisters.
In The Secret of the Towers, the Sprite Sisters learn that a box containing a magical secret is hidden somewhere in their home and start to search for it. However, they are not alone. A distant relative called Charles Smythson has come to Sprite Towers under the pretence of cataloguing the paintings but he is actually a spy for Glenda Glass. The sisters know that they must find the object before he can deliver it into Glenda’s hands but that won’t be a simple task. Charles possesses dark magic of his own…