The Magic Circle

From the author of Zel, Stones in Water, and The Prince of the Pond.
 
Deep in the woods lives the old witch called Ugly One. All she wants is to forget—the she was once a loving mother and a healer, blessed and powerful within her magic circle, and not a witch, claimed by the devils. Then one day she hears the footsteps she dreads. Then real voices—children’s voices. The Ugly One longs to take care of sturdy, sensible Gretel and her young brother Hansel. They are such good children, such delicious, beautiful children. But demons’ voices scream in her head: “Eat them!” How can she? . . . How can she not?
 
“A brilliantly conceived and beautifully executed novel.”—School Library Journal, starred review
 
“A work of great strength and powerful emotion, written with immediacy and intensity, filled with beauty and terror and pervading sense of compassion that must touch young and old.”—Lloyd Alexander
 
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year | “A brilliantly conceived and beautifully executed novel.”—School Library Journal, starred review
 
“A work of great strength and powerful emotion, written with immediacy and intensity, filled with beauty and terror and pervading sense of compassion that must touch young and old.”—Lloyd Alexander

"The author's extraordinary craftsmanship and originality never flag. . . A YA novel of genuine magic and suspense, this will captivate adults as well."—Publishers Weekly 

"Richly poetic yet accessible and immediate; pungent and wise; mesmerizing."—Kirkus Reviews 

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year |

Donna Jo Napoli is the author of many books for children and young adults including, The Prince of the Pond, Zel, and Stones in Water. She has won numerous awards, including the Golden Kite Award and the Sydney Taylor Award for Stones in Water.