Mystic Shapes

About the Book

In Mystic Shapes, Callie, a 9 year old American girl, loses her parents and goes to live with her cold, unfeeling aunt and friendly but hapless uncle in England, where she endures the cruelty of an evil schoolteacher.  She builds a beautiful friendship with Miss Jessica Terwilliger but when this young woman dies, Callie is left traumatized. In her grief, she runs from her home to a library, clutching a ring and a box of shapes that Miss Terwilliger had given her--magical shapes. From a room in the library, she is transported off to many strange places with her ring and the shapes: an Egyptian pyramid, the planet Mercury, a salt crystal, an ancient forest and a mountain. Eventually, she goes back to her aunt and uncle--to discover that they are separating, and that her uncle is marrying Maria Terwilliger, Jessica’s sister, and like her in nearly every way. Callie, Maria, and her uncle, Albert, go back to America and settle down, but five years later Callie meets up with her aunt again, who has married Callie’s former cruel schoolteacher. He has stolen her magical ring, and with it plans to take over the world. With the help of Ophelia, the lady of the ring, Callie rescues her ring and has some amazing adventures in Switzerland, Italy, France and Africa. This story is truly told from a child’s perspective, the first half having been first written when Ms. Harte was 9 years old, and the second half three years later.  In it she combines fantasy and fiction, magical realms and real-life situations that draw in the reader as she describes how Callie copes with everyday fears, as well as the much more momentous losses of her family and a special friend.  Written in an enchanting style, this is a wonderful book for 8-12 year old fantasy and adventure lovers.

About the Author

Born in Berkeley, California, in 1987, Julia Harte has read voraciously from the age of three, and drafted the first half of her novel, Mystic Shapes, when she was nine. Other written works include various short stories, poems, a short play and a musical composition. P. G. Wodehouse is a favorite author of hers. Many experiences from her extensive travels abroad, spanning six continents from Antarctica and Australia to Africa, are incorporated into her novel. One such experience was living in Ascot, England, for a year, where she attended an English school quite different from the one described in Mystic Shapes. Her interests include drama, piano, chess, and climbing mountains, which she does every summer while living at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, located at 9,500 feet on the site of the old mining town of Gothic, Colorado. Besides being a writer, she hopes to be an actress and scientist.