Enchanted Ivy

Publishers Weekly

In this variation on the magic child goes to school theme, 16-year-old Lily Carter accompanies her grandfather and dim, frail mother to Princeton for Reunions weekend. At the Vineyard Club, an exclusive undergraduate "eating club" (modeled on actual Princeton institutions), Lily meets her grandfather's former classmates and is invited to undergo the Legacy Test: if she can find the Ivy Key, she will automatically be admitted to Princeton. Amid crowds of good-natured strangers clad in orange and black, Lily does not at first question the help she gets from a boy with tiger-striped hair. But when stone gargoyles move and books in the library attack, Lily stops taking her assumptions about reality for granted. College admission seems an odd choice for Durst's (Ice) YA fantasy premise; teens generally look upon college as an opportunity for real life to get better, not an event requiring imaginative escape. Readers for whom the admissions process is not an imminent issue may be more intrigued. Lily's naïve perceptions and the book's simple moral framework also point to a younger audience for this bit of nostalgic whimsy. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)

Children's Literature - Shirley Nelson

Sixteen year old Lily Carter dreams of attending Princeton as did her beloved grandfather. She is thrilled when he finally takes Lily and her mother Rose to the campus to celebrate his 50th class reunion. When he introduces her to members of the prestigious Vineyard Club, she learns she will achieve her dreams if she passes the Legacy test. The problem is that she really is given no instruction, except to find the Ivy Key. Not only does she feel clueless, but she does not want to leave her mother alone. Rose's "brain hiccups" are worsening and she often wanders away forgetting who she is. However, Lily is convinced to set off on her quest. She is aided by the strange boy Tye with the orange and black striped hair and Jake, the gorgeous preppy guy. She also receives help from the talking gargoyles. At first Lily refuses to believe they are real. She is convinced they are simply tricks with microphones and cameras. But she finally recognizes that there is a part of Princeton that is invisible to most people, the magical part. Although Lily is attacked by monsters, she soon realizes that the worst monsters may be disguised as friends. Learning the secrets of her father's death and her mother's condition, Lily faces dangers and betrayals while finding love in this intriguing story of hidden magic in seemingly ordinary places. Reviewer: Shirley Nelson

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up—Applying to one's dream school is a stressful process, especially if the school is Princeton, as it is for 16-year-old Lily Carter. But Lily's grandfather, an alumnus, has arranged a possible in for her: the Legacy Test. If she can pass the test by finding the Ivy Key, the exclusive Vineyard Club will guarantee her admission. The test turns out to be a means of introducing Lily to the "other" Princeton; a twin university in a parallel world inhabited by magical creatures. Tensions between the two worlds are strained, and the revelation of the Key soon brings the conflict to a head and forces Lily to confront some startling discoveries about herself, her mentally unbalanced mother, and the father who died when she was just a baby. While the story and the depiction of the magical world are fairly basic, Durst clearly enjoys spinning her supernatural ideas out of the architecture and lore of Princeton. Lily deals with the peculiarity of her situation in a believable manner, and her two potential love interests—a loner boy with orange-and-black hair and the handsome grandson of the Vineyard Club president—are charming. Fans of Lesley Livingston's "Wondrous Strange" series (HarperCollins) may find this similar melding of the mundane and the magical appealing.—Christi Esterle, Parker Library, CO

Kirkus Reviews

Blithe and flighty at the beginning, the protagonist and plot quickly darken and deepen in this fantasy and magical coming-of-age story set at Princeton. During Reunion weekend, a mysterious group of alumni offers high-school junior Lily Carter admission if she can find the Ivy Key and pass the Legacy Test. With the help of her dueling love interests—tiger-haired Tye and knightly Jake—and the gargoyles on campus, Lily finds the key, along with unexpected information about her late father, her addled mother and her esteemed grandfather. Discovering the key also triggers a war between the group that recruited her and the fantastic residents of a parallel world, whose battles engulf the campus. Durst deftly layers in mythologies, drawing upon the vaunted status of the Ivy League schools, students' stories and superstitions, common tropes of fantasy literature and the propaganda of war. A refreshing entry in the urban-fantasy field and a solid adventure tale. (Fantasy. 12 & up)