Wizard's Holiday (by Diane Duane)

Young wizards-in-training Nita and Kit travel to another planet on an exchange program, while three wizards from other planets arrive to stay with Nita's father and sister Dairine to experience Earth culture, Long Island style.

The first half or more of the book is basically a travelogue, alternating between Nita and Kit's delightful and relaxing experiences on Alaalu, and Dairine's more stressful and amusing time with her three visitors. In the later part of the book she and the visitors work to save the sun, while Nita and Kit realize there is something deeply wrong at the heart of the seemingly perfect planet they are visiting.

Children looking for slam-bang action-adventure will not find it here. Except for the rather trumped-up adventures at the end of the book, this seventh entry in the Young Wizards series takes a leisurely and humorous trip through author Diane Duane's seemingly inexhaustible imagination.

The trip is surprisingly fascinating -- in fact it is more than 100 pages before Nita and Kit even arrive on Alaalu or Dairine's guests arrive, but Duane holds her readers' interest with intriguing details of galactic travel, magical procedures, and alien worlds and creatures. Fans of the series will enjoy this well enough, but it's unlikely to be anyone's favorite installment.