| Summary: | Bell, Hilari. Songs of Power. Hyperion, 2000. ISBN 0-7868-0561-7. $15.99. 208 pp. A 4-7 FI Reviewed by Lillian Heil Imina, descended from an Inuit Shaman, knows about magic but nothing about technology. She lives with her parents in an underwater habitat, a scientific community set up to regenerate life in the ocean to help restore the earth’s damaged environment. No one in the community believes in magic, and Imina is an unhappy isolate. When she discovers that someone is casting spells and working magic in an attempt to destroy their habitat, she realizes that magic is the only way to stop them. With almost no support from her scientific parents and other members of the community, Imina confronts the magic makers and saves the habitat. Bell is a good storyteller who spells a mystery out before the reader’s eyes. Like Imina, this reader didn’t put all the pieces together until the climax at the end. The reader does have a few more clues than Imina. For example, from the beginning, Bell puts the magic makers’ meetings with each other in italics but doesn’t say who they are. The final confrontation between Imina and the magic makers is both dramatic and humorous; the solution is surprisingly peaceful and feels exactly right. This is Bell’s first book, but hopefully not her last. 219 p. 22 cm. Children's Book and Play Review, May / June 2001
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