Escape to Witch Mountain

When I was a kid I loved the movies Escape to Witch Mountain and Return to Witch Mountain. I just came across the book Escape to Witch Mountain at the library and decided to read it. The book was great. I didn't want to put it down. It's hard to find "science fiction" books today that are not scary. My 9 yr old doesn't like books like Harry Potter or Spiderwick because of the scary details in the story. Escape to Witch Mountain was a nice change. As Tony & Tia go on their journey you want to keep reading to find out if they will get away. Pick up a copy today, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Since most of the reviewers of this book are adults now who read this book as children and are remembering it as a childhood favorite, I would like to say that as a modern 14-year-old, I liked this book too. I agree with the reviewer who gave this book 4 stars because it was "dated" - the remark about communists ("human rights and human suffering mean nothing to a communist") - did make it quite clear what time period the book was written in, and the Christianity parts - Father O'Day "ranting" about his "sworn enemy", the devil - were kind of annoying, but that didn't spoil the book for me - i still loved it.

After reading "Escape To Witch Mountain", "The Forgotten Door", or "The Case of the Vanishing Boy", you may find it hard to believe that Alexander Key, a magical-fantasy author, can pull off a science-fiction novel. But he managed to do it, and he managed to throw in his own little "Alexander Key charm" that made his other books so successful. The story, of course, was based on the classic Disney film of the same name, so if you are looking for an extention of the first book, you are heading in the wrong direction. The book -is- an extention of the first FILM "Escape To Witch Mountain", as the film was meant to be. But for fans of the movies, this will not be a dissapointment! I, being a fan of both the books AND the films, was not dissapointed at all. But make sure to check out this book from the library before buying it.-Robert KoehlerTanabi5790@aol.com

I hadn't thought of this book for many years. This book (along with another by the same author "The Forgotten Door") set me on a lifetime of reading science fiction and fantasy. I have rarely rediscovered the sheer unadulterated *magic* that I felt while reading this book. Tony and Tia are teens and most teens will relate to them and will get caught up in the mystery and the adventure. I haven't reread it in years and years but I remain certain that for young readers this would be a book they would treasure. Forget about the Disney movie: It was silly popcorn fluff that I am sure crushingly disappointed every fan of the book. This book is about as serious as young adult science fiction gets. (And for those adults who enjoy Harry Potter: take a look at this book too! You won't be disappointed!)

This is classic Alexander Key, a story of a brother and sister with a mysterious past, psychic powers, and only dreams and fragmented memories to tell them who they really are. Much better than the okay-but-silly Disney film based on it, this ranks up there with "The Forgotten Door" as the best of Alexander Key.