Witches' Night Out

RavenWolf, the author of a number of guides to Wiccan practice, kicks off the Witches' Chillers fiction series, starring the members of a high school coven. Readers eager to learn more about what RavenWolf calls ""magick and the religion of Wicca"" can witness rituals and spell-casting and also get a taste of Wiccan philosophy. To do so, however, it's necessary to navigate a tortuous plot involving murder, concealed identities, evil would-be stepmothers and nefarious conspiracies, and to tolerate B-movie dialogue (""By the deadly skirts of the Dark Goddess, it is you, you old hag, that should be struck down! May your Karma return to you!"" the heroine shouts at her malicious English teacher). Ironically, this none-too-spellbinding novel concludes with directions for a spell, as will future series installments; it's hard not to wish a little magic were in the storytelling itself. Ages 12-up. (June)