Synopsis
Wendy's new glasses give her a whole new way of seeing things . . . that aren't there.
Publishers Weekly
An utterly likable narrator gives a boost to Vande Velde's (Heir Apparent) charming and funny fantasy. Fifteen-year-old Wendy is plucky and upbeat despite having a "figure like a duffel bag" and being practically blind without her glasses. When a bully breaks her glasses at school, she resorts to wearing a pair of prescription sunglasses she found on her lawn-which, coincidentally, are a perfect match for her eyes. But the glasses do more than let her see: when she wears them, dead people talk to her, and Tiffanie, the prettiest girl in school turns into "the ugliest person in the world." The spectacles also reveal portals to a parallel world, one in which two elf brothers fight for the throne-and the son of one of them is living in the human world as Julian, on whom Wendy might just have a crush (though her glasses reveal his long, pointed ears). A time portal introduces her to her grandmother as a girl, who joins Wendy in her effort to rescue the recently imperiled Julian; they are aided by Tiffanie (the beautiful/ugly girl from Wendy's class), who turns out to be anything but a normal student. The plot playfully wanders all over the map; readers will likely get just as much enjoyment from Wendy's sly and self-deprecating humor as from the whimsical adventure itself. Ages 12-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.