The Witch's Eye Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Price: $13.95. Pages: 179 pages. Publisher: Delacorte Press.

The Witch's Eye is a mystery/horror novel that tells the fantastic story of how two friends, Lynn and Mouse, try to defeat a mean, old witch.

Mrs. Tuggle, the witch, lives next door to Lynn Morley and her best friend, Marjorie "Mouse" Beasley. Mrs. Tuggle causes a lot of trouble for her neighbors. In fact, she plagues everyone in the Morley and Beasley households at one time or another.

When Mrs. Tuggle's house burns down, Lynn thinks everything will be back to normal in their ordinary, Indiana neighborhood. But then, Lynn's little brother, Stevie, starts doing really strange things, like stabbing all of his stuffed animals with his Pick-up Stix.

Lynn finally figures out why Stevie is acting so weird. While giving Stevie a bath, she finds a marble that Stevie said he found in the ruins of Mrs. Tuggle's house after the fire. Lynn soon realizes that the marble has evil powers that cause Stevie to act strange, because when she takes the marble away from Stevie, he acts normal again.

The same thing happens with the rest of the family. The farther away the marble is, the happier the family becomes. Lynn and Mouse decide that the only way to get rid of the witch is to get rid of the marble. And for the rest of the book that is what they try to do.

The author perfectly balances each scene with just the right amount of description and action, as in the following scene, which takes place when Lynn finds her brother after he has stabbed all of his stuffed animals:

"Get out," Stevie said, but it wasn't Stevie's voice. Lynn stared. Stevie's lips moved, and the sound seemed to come from his throat, but it was the voice of an old woman, not Stevie's at all.

Shaking, Lynn looked around the room. Stevie's stuffed animals lay in disarray around the floor _ a panda in one corner, a bear draped over the arm of his rocking chair. A clown lay on the rug and a raccoon had been stuffed beneath the dresser. Every single one of them had a Pick-up-Stix embedded in its back or chest.

Lynn lost control. "Stevie!" she yelled. What's got into you? What is happening?"

Stevie's lips moved. "Get out," the voice said again.

A high 10!

I highly recommend this book to any person _ child or adult. On a scale from one to 10, this book is definitely a high 10! The descriptions make this a sensational book, and Joe Burleson's illustrations help the reader picture what's not said. Anyone who likes a good, fictional book will enjoy The Witch's Eye.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written three other books about witches: Witch's Sister, Witch Water, and The Witch Herself.