Gregory Spencer, Guardians of the Veil

Guardians of the Veil

Gregory Spencer

Howard (Simon & Schuster), August 2007, 700 pp

ISBN 9781416543411

In Skinner, Oregon live four teenagers Angie, Lizbeth, Bennu, and Len; they don't fit in and are proud of the fact. In their neighborhood the veil between their world and Welken is so thin that they are able to travel there when summoned. Became part of Welken when they willimng helped defeat the evil one Morphane. While there they are able to change into animal shapes, Lizbeth an ox, Angie an angel, Len a falcon and Bennu a falcon Their work there was given the blessing of Solion the being who is everything.

Now they are called back again but they don't know what there mission is and they can only transform partially into animal shapes. The young ladies get separated from their male peers leading to separate adventures. The females learn that Mary and her Cutters want to take over Deedy Swamp and surrounding areas; while Len and Bennu learn that Fetagar and Tremlings want to do the same thing. Now the Misfits have to figure out how to stop them and to do that they have to figure out four cryptic lines that are spoken to them over a period of time.

The characters make GUARDIAN OF THE VEIL very special. The teens are youths with problems like a grandmother who has Alzheimer's and a mother who is an alcoholic but they succeed in not allowing their personal issues to affect their responsibilities. In fact, the problems help make them stronger warriors and the battles help them deal better with their family issues. Readers will care about them and hope they succeed in all their endeavors.

Harriet Klausner