In her debut novel, The Wishing Game, Meg Shaffer took readers to an adventure-filled competition where the winner would receive a life-altering prize from a beloved childhood author. Think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory without the chocolate. In her sophomore novel, The Lost Story, Shaffer allowed readers to follow her characters as they moved from reality into fantasy, living within a fairytale, and then being faced with the challenges of reconciling those experiences with themselves and each other when they return to the “real” world. Now Shaffer is back with The Book Witch, and it is her most fantastic novel, in more ways than one, to date!

Rainy March (yes, her name is a pun and she’s heard ALL of the jokes!) is a Book witch. She uses her magical abilities to protect works of fiction from those who would alter or destroy them. One of Rainy’s powers is the ability to enter any work of fiction and experience the world within the book and interact with the characters. There are dangers in entering a work of fiction. So, the Book Witches have created a set of rules to protect both the witches who enter the stories and the stories themselves. They are known as the “Black and Whites” both because they protect text on a page (black and white) and because they are never to be broken. The rules are black and white, and there are no grey areas. Until there are.

When Rainy’s grandfather, a powerful Book Witch, disappears while on a mission, followed shortly by a burglary of Rainy’s home, where a single, valuable book is stolen. Rainy turns to the fictional protagonist of her favorite mystery series, the Duke of Chicago, to help her locate both her grandfather and her stolen book. What could possibly go wrong?

Like her previous novels, Meg Shaffer’s The Book Witch is a love letter to fiction and the power of storytelling. It’s also a bit of near wish fulfillment for most readers. Who hasn’t wondered what it would be like to enter a favorite book and spend time with a beloved character? Shaffer gives readers the chance to follow Rainy as she travels through some familiar stories in search of the answers she needs to solve the mystery of her missing grandfather. The book is filled with references to classic and genre literature (along with a few nods to her own novels). Regardless of the reader’s preferred genre, it seems certain that some of Rainy’s comments or references will connect!

Shaffer’s characters are nicely drawn and an almost perfect balance between a known quantity and a new discovery. Rainy, particularly, seems familiar in spite of making her debut in The Book Witch. Shaffer also deftly incorporates well-known and established literary characters into her story. She may stretch the limits of credulity in a place or two, but never breaks them.

Shaffer also deals with some difficult subjects and touches on how, for many people, there are times in our lives where our only respite from difficulties is in the pages of a well-known and loved story. Shaffer handles all of this with a gentle hand and a positive outlook. It seems entirely possible, even probable, that Shaffer’s novels will become some of those stories for readers in the near future.