Scarborough, Elizabeth Ann 1947–

views updated

Scarborough, Elizabeth Ann 1947–

(Elizabeth Scarborough)

Personal

Born March 23, 1947, in Kansas City, KS; daughter of Donald Dean (a telephone installer) and Betty Lou (a registered nurse) Scarborough; married Richard G. Kacsur, June 15, 1975 (divorced January 1, 1982). Education: Bethany Hospital School of Nursing (Kansas City, MO), R.N., 1968; University of Alaska, Fairbanks, B.A., 1968. Politics: "Pragmatic humanist." Religion: "Disorganized Christian universalist."

Addresses

Home—Port Townsend, WA. Agent—Merrilee Heifetz, 21 W. 26th St., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Author and journalist. Formerly associated with Gallup Indian Medical Center and with Bethany Hospital, Kansas City, MO; former medical/surgical nurse at St. David's Hospital, Austin, TX. Freelance writer, 1979–.

Member

Science Fiction Writers of America, Society for Creative Anachronism.

Awards, Honors

Nebula Award, Science Fiction Writers of America, 1989, for The Healer's War.

Writings

FANTASY NOVELS

The Harem of Aman Akbar; or, The Djinn Decanted, Bantam (New York, NY), 1984.

The Drastic Dragon of Draco, Texas, Bantam (New York, NY), 1986.

The Goldcamp Vampire; or, The Sanguinary Sourdough, Bantam (New York, NY), 1987.

The Healer's War, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1989.

Nothing Sacred, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1991.

Last Refuge, Bantam (New York, NY), 1992.

Carol for Another Christmas, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1996.

The Lady in the Loch, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Channeling Cleopatra, Ace Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Cleopatra 7.2 (sequel to Channeling Cleopatra), Ace Books (New York, NY), 2004.

"ARGONIA" SERIES; NOVELS

Songs of Sorcery, Bantam (New York, NY), 1982.

The Unicorn Creed, Bantam (New York, NY), 1983.

Bronwyn's Bane, Bantam (New York, NY), 1983.

The Christening Quest, Bantam (New York, NY), 1985.

Songs from the Seashell Archives (contains Song of Sorcery, The Unicorn Creed, Bronwyn's Bane, and The Christening Quest), two volumes, Bantam (New York, NY), 1987–88.

"SONGKILLER SAGA" SERIES; NOVELS

Phantom Banjo, Bantam (New York, NY), 1991.

Picking the Ballad's Bones, Bantam (New York, NY), 1991.

Strum Again?, Bantam (New York, NY), 1992.

"POWER" SERIES; NOVELS; WITH ANNE McCAFFREY

Powers That Be, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1993.

Power Lines, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1994.

Power Play, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1995.

Changelings: Book One of the Twins of Petaybee, Del Ray (New York, NY), 2006.

"GODMOTHER" SERIES; NOVELS

The Godmother, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1994.

The Godmother's Apprentice, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1995.

The Godmother's Web, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1998.

"ACORNA" SERIES; NOVELS; WITH ANNE McCAFFREY

Acorna's People: The Further Adventures of the Unicorn Girl, HarperTorch (New York, NY), 1999.

Acorna's World, EOS (New York, NY), 2000.

Acorna's Search, EOS (New York, NY), 2001.

Acorna's Rebels, EOS (New York, NY), 2003.

Acorna's Triumph, EOS (New York, NY), 2004.

First Warning ("Acorna's Children" series), EOS (New York, NY), 2005.

OTHER

An Interview with a Vietnam Nurse, Bantam (New York, NY), 1989.

(Editor with Martin H. Greenberg) Warrior Princesses, Daw Books (New York, NY), 1998.

(Editor) Past Lives, Present Tense, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1999.

(Editor with Martin H. Greenberg) Vampire Slayers: Stories of Those Who Dare to Take Back the Night, Cumberland House (Nashville, TN), 1999.

Scarborough Fair and Other Stories, Five Star (Water-ville, ME), 2003.

Coeditor, with Anne McCaffrey, of anthology Space Opera. Contributor of fiction to anthologies, including Arabesques, edited by Susan Schwartz, Avon, 1988; Christmas Bestiary, edited by Rosalind and Martin H. Greenberg, Daw, 1992; Shades of Blonde, edited by Carole Nelson Douglas, Tom Doherty, 1997; Women at War, edited by Lois McMaster Bujold and Roland Green, Tor, 1995; Immortal Unicorn, edited by Peter S. Beagle and Janet Berliner, 1995; Cat Crimes in Time, edited by Greenberg; Chicks in Chainmail, edited by Esther M. Friesner, Baen Books, 1995; Zodiac Fantastic, edited by Greenberg, Daw, 1997; Elf Magic, edited by Greenberg, Daw, 1997; Fractured Fairy Tales, edited by Denise Little, Daw; and Past Lives, Present Tense. Contributor to magazines and newspapers, including Alaskafest and Alaska Today.

Adaptations

Several of Scarborough's books have been adapted as audiobooks, including Powers That Be, Power Lines, and Power Play, for Dove Audio. Carol for Another Christmas was adapted for the stage by David Brandle, 1998.

Sidelights

Recognized as a popular and influential author of fantasy for adults, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough characteristically blends humor and fantasy to describe her earthy protagonists, chiefly female, who befriend charming animal characters and embark on exciting quests. In addition to penning a number of fantasy series as well as standalone novels such as The Lady in the Loch and her Nebula Award-winning The Healer's War, Scarborough has also collaborated with fantasist Anne McCaffrey on several science-fiction novels, among them the "Acorna" series for young adults. Published for adults but appreciated by young people, her books are acknowledged for their originality, intelligence, and unconventionality as well as for their wit, fast pace, and light-hearted approach. In the fantasy genre, Scarborough is perhaps best known for her "Argonia" and "Songkiller Saga" series; in the former, she describes the adventures of cheerful young witch Maggie Brown and Maggie's mother Bronwyn in the secondary world Argonia, while the latter follows a band of courageous figures as they restore folk music to the world after it has been eliminated by demons.

Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Scarborough was educated as a nurse and served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps both in the United States and in Vietnam before becoming a full-time writer in 1979; she also earned a degree in history from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks in 1987. Her first books, part of the "Argonia" series, include such archetypal characters from folk and fairy tales as witches, dragons, magicians, and unicorns. The "Argonia" novels center on quests by what St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers essayist Cosette Kies called "very human protagonists." "There is playfulness and cheerfulness throughout the stories," Kies added, "with puns and comic situations to create humor as fast-paced as the action."

With The Christening Quest, Scarborough returns to Argonia; in this novel, according to Margaret Miles in Voice of Youth Advocates, the author "uses her accustomed blend of fairy tale, gypsies, and Arabian Nights to produce another chuckle-filled light fantasy adventure." The novel describes the rescue of Princess Romany, the first-born daughter of Princess Bronwyn, who has been kidnapped by money-hungry magicians; the baby is rescued by Bronwyn's brother and cousin in an adventure, according to Roland Green in Booklist, "as filled with action and humor as any of the preceding books." Writing in Fantasy Review, Douglas Barbour noted that The Christening Quest is "light entertainment and … enjoyable because it does try in its small way to undercut some of the sexist conventions of the genre, unlike most of what passes for writing … these days." Songs from the Seashell Archives is a two-volume omnibus containing the four volumes of the "Argonia" quartet.

With her "Songkiller" saga, Scarborough spins a comic fantasy series that is considered a thinly veiled and incisive depiction of the censorship of contemporary music. She bases the series on the premise that a cabal of devils, who realize that music—especially folk music—is one of the few things that truly edifies the human race, attempts to eradicate that art form from the face of the earth. In the first volume, Phantom Banjo, the devils kill folk musicians and destroy the folk music archives at the Library of Congress, among other unsavory activities; as each artist dies and each medium preserving the music is ruined, humans find that they have lost their familiarity with popular songs. In addition, little music is allowed on the airwaves; the radio, for example, broadcasts mostly news. Before his death, legendary folk artist Sam Hawthorne wills his banjo to Mark Mosby, a singer and fan. Before he dies in a car accident, Mosby goes to see Willie MacKai, a Texas resident and retired singer, and gives the banjo—named Lazarus—to him. This act begins a journey that takes Willie and Lazarus, a remarkable instrument that plays music with or without human hands, on a quest to save the music. Writing in Booklist, Roland Green concluded that Phantom Banjo has "just about every virtue one can reasonably expect in a contemporary fantasy tale."

In the second volume of the series, Picking the Ballad's Bones, Willie and other keepers of the flame go to England, meet the ghost of Sir Walter Scott, and make a deal whereby they will spend seven years living out the stories told by the old ballads so that they might be retrieved for humanity; the deal is arranged by a former Faerie Queen, who is now known as Torchy. "The second part [of the saga]," wrote Tom Whitmore in Locus, "is a good continuation of the first…. It's light, amusing, and quick; once again, the very real background to this story … sits in the background and is not obviously real. It doesn't take demons to keep the music out of our ears, unfortunately." Booklist reviewer Green concurred, writing that Scarborough's "superior black comedy fantasy trilogy … is contemporary fantasy of a very high order." In the conclusion to the series, Strum Again?, the questers return to the United States and, with Torchy's assistance, reintroduce folk songs into the national consciousness while fighting opposition from public and private institutions which, it turns out, are controlled from Hell. Green called the book an "absorbing, tension-filled story that demands a good deal of erudition of its readers but repays their efforts."

Scarborough is also the author of the "Godmother" books, stories that center on a fairy godmother named Felicity Fortune who assists those in need. Felicity belongs to the Godmothers' Union and is hampered by strict union regulations as well as budget cutbacks. In The Godmother, which is set in Scarborough's home city of Seattle, she manages to help an overwrought social worker with her caseload of destitute clients. Writing in the Voice of Youth Advocates, Denise M. Thorn-hill called The Godmother "not just a fantasy novel—it is also a problem novel." Dubbed "thoroughly absorbing" by Booklist reviewer Green, The Godmother's Apprentice finds Felicity in Ireland with her new apprentice, fifteen-year-old Snohomish Quantrill. Drawing on folklore, fairy tales, and mythology, Scarborough tells a complex tale involving an Irish terrorist, house spirits, and a talking toad; Voice of Youth Advocates contributor Donna L. Scanlon noted that the author draws "the various threads … together into a well-woven, compelling plot with a satisfactory ending." In The Godmother's Web the focus is on Cindy Ellis, a horse trainer who is in love with Snohomish's brother, rock star Raydir Quantrill. The godchild of Fortune, Cindy leaves her unsatisfactory life and winds up involved in a complex battle between two Indian tribes, her companion an elderly woman with a knack for setting things to rights. Comparing the series to books by Charles De Lint, a Publishers Weekly reviewer deemed The Godmother's Web an "enjoyable, somewhat offbeat tale."

A two-volume fantasy series, The Drastic Dragon of Draco, Texas and The Goldcamp Vampire feature historical settings and author/journalist Pelagia Harper as their protagonist. In The Drastic Dragon of Draco, Texas Pelagia is captured by Indians and meets a fire-breathing dragon during her attempt to write about the romance of the Wild West, while in The Goldcamp Vampire she encounters the son of Count Dracula, who is masquerading as the potential buyer of an Alaskan saloon dur-ing the Gold Rush. Writing in Library Journal, Jackie Cassada called The Drastic Dragon of Draco, Texas a "superbly told tale that may even attract some Western fans," while Voice of Youth Advocates reviewer Pat Pearl deemed The Goldcamp Vampire a "cheerfully macabre, amusingly told story with a frostily vivid Klondike-of-the-Gold Rush background." Reviewing The Goldcamp Vampire, Kies wrote that "Scarborough's originality is evident in the fact that she sets her vampire story in a land where night goes on for months, wonderful for recruiting vampires but not so great for unwilling recruits," and noted of the two novels that the frontier settings, "both in Texas plains and the Yukon goldfields, provide the journalist heroine … with colorful milieus in which to pursue mystery, magic and the supernatural."

Another two-volume serial draws on even older history: that of ancient Egypt. In Channeling Cleopatra Egyptologist and geneticist Leda Hubbard is hired by the company Nucor Helix to find the physical remains of Cleopatra on behalf of a wealthy client who wants to tap into the late queen's strength by having Cleopatra's DNA injected into her veins. Ultimately, due to various intrigues, Leda winds up hosting the DNA herself. In what a Publishers Weekly contributor deemed a "cheerful sequel," Cleopatra 7.2 finds Leda battling the queen's aggressive tendencies while joined by archeologist Gabriella Faruk, who is also carrying a dose of Cleopatra's DNA. While Gabriella hopes that the queen's DNA will help her translate the writings from Cleopatra's tomb, Leda is determined to battle Nucor Helix's efforts to market what she knows to be their dangerous DNA blending technology. According to the Publishers Weekly reviewer, the "distinctive voiced" of Leda and Cleopatra sustain the story's "breathless pace," while the novels' "humorous tone" engage readers. The first volume in a trilogy, Powers That Be marked the first of Scarborough's many collaborations with science-fiction writer Anne McCaffrey. The "Power" books are set in a future with a definite militaristic bent. In the series opener, Major Yanaba Mad-dock, a female soldier, is sent to the frontier planet Petaybee as a spy, and discovers a rebel plot to destroy the corporation that controls the planet. After becoming sympathetic to the settlers, who are environmentally conscious and humane, as opposed to the coldly bureaucratic corporation, Yanaba decides to become a rebel. The sequels, Power Lines and Power Play, describe the conflict between the settlers and the corporation, while a spin-off series, "Changelings," focuses on Yanaba's precocious twin children, Murel and Ronan, and the problems caused by their telepathic abilities.

Geared for a young-adult audience, the "Acorna" series is another collaboration between the two writers; other volumes in the series are collaborations with McCaffrey and Margaret Ball. Acorna is a shy unicorn girl, humanlike except for the small horn growing out of her forehead, and her telepathic powers. As the series unfolds, readers are drawn into a futuristic space opera in which Acorna, raised by humans but always viewed as an outsider, discovers her own people, the Linyaari, but still desires to make her own way in life. In Acorna's World she ships out aboard a salvage ship, and falls in love with Aari, another in her race. An ongoing battle with the bug-like Khleevi fuels the romance, while a subplot involving rescued child slaves offer up "wry social commentary on capitalistic machinations," according to a Publishers Weekly contributor.

The series continues with Acorna's Search, in which Acornia and life-mate Aari help the peaceful Linyaari return to the reclaimed planet Vhiliimyar, where, under the Knleevi, an ecological disaster has occurred. In addition to discovering clues to her people's past, the unicorn girl also tackles obstacles in the form of bear-like monsters and the disappearance of her beloved Aari. The saga continues in Acorna's Rebels, which finds the plucky Acorna rescuing a planet on which contentious cats and humans are both threatened by a plague, and continuing her efforts to restore Vhiliinyar, despite the continued absence of Aari. The absent lover finally reappears in Acorna's Triumph, but he has been altered for the worse while in the clutches of the maniacal Khleevi. She also acquires the chrysoberyls, special jewels required for terraforming, and the future of Vhiliinyar looks bright. Acorna's Triumph was praised by a Publishers Weekly contributor as a "fitting coda to the series," which Cassada maintained features "strong characters and a good eye for storytelling."

Among Scarborough's freestanding novels, The Harem of Aman Akbar; or, The Djinn Decanted is a lighthearted tale set in the Middle East about how a young bride reverses a spell placed on her unfaithful husband by a genie. Los Angeles Times Book Review critic Kristiana Gregory called the novel "a wild fantasy … pulsing with color and noise like a marketplace at noon," while Booklist reviewer Roland Green wrote: "This excellent piece of humorous fantasy is witty, fast-paced, intelligent, and features excellent characterization." Another well-received standalone novel, The Lady in the Loch takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland during the 1880s, as a legion of money-hungry bodysnatchers are linked with the disappearance of Gypsy girls. Combining Victorian culture, magic, and a strong dose of Scottish brogue, Scarborough's "artful work" was cited by a Publishers Weekly contributor as featuring a conclusion that "is both satisfying and in keeping with the roles that magic and meaningful coincidence play." In Library Journal, Jackie Cassada deemed the novel "intriguing and beguiling," while in Booklist Green cited The Lady in the Loch as among the author's "better efforts."

The Healer's War marked a departure in Scarborough's literary style when it was published in 1989: it is a strongly realistic antiwar novel about a young woman's coming of age that contains fewer fantastic elements than her other books. In the words of Booklist reviewer Mary Banas, Scarborough "expertly blends suspense, dark humor, and realism into a powerful, soul-stirring mix that, for the first time, shows the Vietnam War from a woman's perspective." Kies concurred, acknowledging in the St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers that the novel stands "in amazing contrast" to Scarborough's earlier fantasies. The Healer's War focuses on twenty-one-year-old Kathleen "Kitty" McCully, a character the author based largely on herself. A nurse from Kansas who is stationed in a Vietnam hospital, Kitty is given an amulet by an old Vietnamese mystic just before he dies. The amulet allows Kitty to sense the aura of each person she meets and to learn their true motives; in addition, she receives the power to heal. Kitty experiences the horrors of war but also goes on a spiritual journey, coming to realize the special qualities of Vietnam and its people. While trying to save the life of a young amputee, she is captured by the Viet Cong but uses her skills as a healer to survive. After being rescued by American troops and sent back to America, Kitty tries to adjust to stateside life and to find purpose in her new existence.

Writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, Syrul Lurie commented that Scarborough's "depiction of a time and place in American history [is one] which every young adult should internalize and never forget," while a Kirkus Reviews writer noted that the author "writes powerfully and convincingly of the war itself." According to a Publishers Weekly reviewer, "Scarborough's light, fluid storytelling and the authentic, pungent background keep this novel interesting." In her author's note to The Healer's War, Scarborough writes: "I chose to write the book as fiction because, as somebody is frequently misquoted as saying, fiction is supposed to make sense out of real life. And if there was ever an episode in my life that needed sense made out of it, it was Vietnam. In a nonfiction account, I could talk only about myself, what I saw and felt. I wasn't very clear about that when I started writing." In 1988, Scarborough published a second book about her Vietnam experience, An Interview with a Vietnam Nurse.

In addition to her other works, Scarborough has made several well-received contributions to the science-fiction genre, including Nothing Sacred, which, according to Gerald Jonas in the New York Times Book Review, "heralds a new subgenre that might be called New World Order Science Fiction." Set in the year 2069 and written in the form of a prison journal, the book describes a post-holocaust world wherein the Pentagon has become part of the North American Continental Allied Forces (NACAF), a group that supplies professional soldiers to international warmakers. NACAF allies are involved in a conflict with Russia, China, and India. After forty-two-year-old warrant officer Vivika Jeng Vanachek is shot down during an aerial mapping mission in the mountains of Tibet, she is captured by local guerrillas, who imprison, torture, and brainwash her. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that Viv is in Shambala, an enchanted paradise that is the last safe spot in a decimated world. While she helps reorganize an old library, Viv eventually becomes reconciled to her new situation. According to Jonas, Viv "is an engaging sort once she gets her wits about her," and her "irrepressible flippancy nicely undercuts the creeping pietism that seems to be an occupational hazard of Tibetan sagas." Scarborough once noted in the St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers that she used to introduce Nothing Sacred at author readings with the comment: "There's good news and bad news. The bad news is, I end the world. The good news is, there's a sequel."

That sequel is Last Refuge. Set twenty years after the conclusion of Nothing Sacred, it features the granddaughter of Viv Vanachek, Chime Cincinnati, who is Shambala's emissary to the outside world. Accompanied by her father Mike, Viv's son, Chime goes on a quest to discover what is causing Shambala's babies to be born without souls. After Chime and Mike find another enchanted valley, ruled by the evil Master Meru, the pair outwit Meru and guide the living and the dead, whose souls will be used to infuse the children of Sham-bala, to safety. While a critic in Kirkus Reviews noted that "any exoticism the Buddhist background might have added is lost in Scarborough's paradoxically rationalistic explanation of the supernatural," Green disagreed, writing in Booklist that in Nothing Sacred "a vivid and powerful yarn awaits the many fans who have made Scarborough so popular."

As Scarborough once commented of her career as a writer, "After fifteen years of nursing, an important job for which I was not temperamentally suited, I'm finally doing what I always wanted to do. I am getting paid for my ridiculous ideas and off-the-wall jokes, the same sort that always got me into trouble in other lines of work."

Biographical and Critical Sources

BOOKS

St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996, pp. 514-516.

Scarborough, Elizabeth Ann, The Healer's War, Double-day (New York, NY), 1989.

PERIODICALS

Analog, February, 1995, p. 159; May, 1996, p. 144.

Booklist, December 15, 1984, Roland Green, review of The Harem of Aman Akbar; or, The Djinn Decanted, p. 561; October 1, 1985, Roland Green, review of The Christening Quest, pp. 195-196; November 1, 1988, Mary Banas, review of The Healer's War, p. 450; June 15, 1991, Roland Green, review of Phantom Banjo, p. 1937; December 1, 1991, Roland Green, review of Picking the Ballad's Bones, p. 684; April 15, 1992, Roland Green, review of Strum Again?, p. 1509; June 15, 1992, Roland Green, review of Last Refuge, p. 1787; September 1, 1994, p. 28; December 15, 1995, Roland Green, review of The Godmother's Apprentice, p. 689; June 1, 1996, Kay Weisman, review of Phoenix, Upside Down, p. 1724; February 15, 1998, Roland Green, review of The Godmother's Web, p. 991; December 1, 1998, Roland Green, review of The Lady in the Loch, p. 655; November 1, 1999, Roberta Johnson, review of Past Lives, Present Tense, p. 513; June 1, 2000, Sally Estes, review of Acorna's World, p. 1866; October 1, 2001, Sally Estes, review of Acorna's Search, p. 306; February 15, 2003, Roland Green, review of Scarborough Faire and Other Stories, p. 1060; January 1, 2004, Freida Murray, review of Acorna's Triumph, p. 840; December 1, 2005, Sally Estes, review of Changelings: Book One of the Twins of Petaybee, p. 32.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May, 1990, review of The Secret Language of the SB, p. 226.

Fantasy Review, October, 1985, Douglas Barbour, "Too Nice a Quest," p. 20.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 1988, review of The Healer's War, p. 1366; June 15, 1992, review of Last Refuge, p. 754; July 1, 1994, p. 892; October 15, 1995, p. 1462; September 15, 2001, review of Acorna's Search, p. 1330; November 15, 2002, review of Acorna's Rebels, p. 1664; October 15, 2005, review of Changelings, p. 1113.

Kliatt, March, 1996, p. 20; November, 2004, Bette Ammon, review of Acorna's Triumph, p. 41.

Library Journal, May 15, 1986, Jackie Cassada, review of The Drastic Dragon of Draco, Texas, p. 81; November 15, 1995, p. 103; December, 1998, Jackie Cassada, review of The Lady in the Loch, p. 162; November 15, 2001, Jackie Cassada, review of Acorna's Search, p. 100; February 15, 2003, Jackie Cassada, review of Acorna's Rebels, p. 173; January, 2004, Jackie Cassada, review of Acorna's Triumph, p. 167; December 1, 2004, Jackie Cassada, review of Cleopatra 7.2, p. 104; March 1, 2005, Douglas C. Lord, review of Acorna's Triumph, p. 122; August 1, 2005, Jackie Cassada, review of First Warning, p. 75.

Locus, October, 1991, Tom Whitmore, review of Picking the Ballad's Bones, p. 56; August, 1994, p. 62.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, December 9, 1984, Kristiana Gregory, review of The Harem of Aman Akbar, p. 14.

Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March, 1996, review of The Godmother's Apprentice, p. 56.

New York Times Book Review, April 21, 1994, Gerald Jonas, review of Nothing Sacred, p. 24.

Publishers Weekly, September 16, 1988, review of The Healer's War, p. 63; May 18, 1990, review of The Secret Language of the SB, p. 85; August 29, 1994, p. 64; November 27, 1995, p.56; October 28, 1996, review of Carol for Another Christmas, p. 59; December 22, 1997, review of The Godmother's Web, p. 42; November 23, 1998, review of The Lady of the Loch, p. 63; October 25, 1999, review of Past Lives, Present Tense, p. 56; January 14, 2002, review of Channeling Cleopatra, p. 45; December 2, 2002, review of Acor-na's Rebels, p. 38; January 12, 2004, review of Acorna's Triumph, p. 42; November 15, 2004, review of Cleopatra 7.2, p. 45; October 17, 2005, review of Changelings, p. 44.

School Library Journal, June, 1990, Sylvia S. Marantz, review of The Secret Language of the SB, p. 126; June, 1996, p. 124; August 7, 2000, review of Acorna's World, p. 80; October 29, 2001, review of Acorna's Search, p. 40; July 18, 2005, review of First Warning, p. 189.

Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 1986, Margaret Miles, review of The Christening Quest, p. 397; June, 1996, Donna L. Scanlon, review of The Godmother's Apprentice, p. 110; June, 1988, Pat Pearl, review of The Goldcamp Vampire, p. 97; June, 1989, Syrul Lurie, review of The Healer's War, p. 118; December, 1991, Penny Blubaugh, review of Phantom Banjo, p. 326; December, 1994, Denise M. Thornhill, review of The Godmother, p. 290.