The Other Ones (by Jean Thesman)

Meanwhile, the dramas of high school go on: her friend has been abandoned by his father, she enters an art contest, a boy likes her, a bully menaces her and her few friends.

There's little that's believable here, from the cardboard cutout characters (magic people good, almost everyone else bad) to the absurd premise. As desperate as teens can be to fit in, it will be hard for most readers to credit, or sympathize with, a character who rejects magic powers so she'll seem normal. Just once wouldn't it be nice to read a story where a character enjoys the gift of magic, glories in it, has fun with it, just as any real person would do?

Author Jean Thesman manages what few other authors can: to make magic tedious. The conclusion is obvious nearly from the first page -- all Bridget has to do is accept her powers, but she spends the entire book agonizing over it. Presumably Thesman has a point to make about teen self-acceptance, but her point will be lost with readers who just want to smack Bridget for being so dense.