This continues the children's tale begun in Welsh's Mistress of the Storm. Verity and her friends have enjoyed a fine summer, but in the fall, strange things again occur: the ground is eroding, and fine sand infiltrates all aspects of village life, even to erasing the words from ancient books in the library. The sand comes from the body of the Earth Witch, who was crushed into a million pieces by the Wind Witch many years ago, and who is on the verge of re-assembling herself. Once again, Verity and her friends must try to find the cause and stop the damage.
I love the way the author brings the library into the novel as the command center where the characters do research, maintenance on the damaged texts, and plot their next moves in the defeat of the Earth Witch's nefarious plans. The children are smart, have believable skills and feelings, and there's a hint of a budding romance in the works, too.
