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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Potter, Ellen

Hither & Nigh

416 pp. | McElderry | October, 2022 | Trade ISBN 978-1-66591-038-5 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-6659-1040-8
(3) 4-6 After a spate of “criminal truancy”--her way of coping with her brother’s disappearance--Nell Batista must do community service or risk being expelled from middle school. Along with three classmates, she is assigned to the Last Chance Club. When the club’s advisor, Mr. Boot, hands out chopsticks and tells the students they’re going to learn magic, it becomes clear that the Last Chance Club is not your typical volunteer gig. They will be angels, using their new magical skills to help people achieve their inner desires. When one lesson drops Nell into a parallel world (the “Nigh,” where everything is just a little bit off from what she’s used to in the “Hither”--for instance, the Statue of Liberty holds a remote control instead of a torch), she and her classmates end up fighting evil and solving the mystery of her brother’s disappearance. Potter has created an intriguing pair of worlds. What at first seems whimsical (there are plenty of Oifen-Shoifen spells and Notsen-Glotsen hexes) has pronouncedly dark undertones. The book explores questions of grief, exploitation, and responsibility through its occasionally convoluted plot. It’s also a love letter to a particular experience of New York City, a la When You Reach Me (rev. 7/09); Nell’s relationship with her local chess hustlers is a delight.
Reviewer: Sarah Rettger

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