From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5-These series entries threaten to do for fantasy what "The American Girl Collection" (Pleasant) has done for American history. Four girls find costumes and a mirror in a neighbor's attic. A look in the magic glass takes one or all of them on an adventure, where they stay until they look in another mirror, at which point they are returned to the attic. Secret explains the formula; if children read Heather first, they will be mystified by the sketchy writing. The friends all seem alike, because their characterizations are glued to their outsides. Alison is the jock; Keisha the African American who celebrates Kwanzaa; Megan the reader who quotes Shakespeare; Heather the Jewish ballerina wannabe. But their contributions to the conversations are all the same-an annoying mixture of pseudo-sophistication and moralistic goodness. Readers are encouraged to emulate these people: there's a postcard at the back of each book inviting them to join the club and get their own key and a free glossy catalogue from which they may order merchandise. An opportunistic, hollow package.?Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, MECopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.