A new book from Patricia MacLachlan

Waiting for the Magic
by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Amy June Bates
Simon & Schuster, September 13th, 2011

Patricia MacLachlan uses each world carefully, never giving the reader more or less than they need, always keeping the delicate balance between what to state and what to suggest. In Waiting for the Magic, this precision allows the magic of MacLachlan's story to unfurl slowly and believably. When Willam's father leaves, his mother, seeking to fill the hole of William's father's absence, adopts four dogs and one cat. William's younger sister Elinor talks to the animals and they seem to understand one another as if by magic. But the only ones who know magic are "the young, the old, the brave, the honest, and the joyful." If William is brave enough to accept his new family, will he, too, experience the magic Elinor does? MacLachlan's heartwarming story combines a simple, realistic story with just a pinch of magic....and a pinch is all it needs.