Mazemaker

Grade 5-8-- When Winnie finds a large, intricate maze spray-painted on a deserted playground, she can't resist trying to negotiate it. As she triumphantly reaches the center, she finds herself transported 100 years into the past, but on the same spot--in the center of an overgrown but still discernible hedge maze. She is given shelter by a young girl and her aunt who believe that Winnie is the victim of a terrible accident which has left her with amnesia. They warn her to stay out of the abandoned and dangerous hedge maze--people have been known to disappear in it. Winnie knows that the only way to return to her own home is through the maze, but she is being constantly watched by the strange and unfriendly housekeeper, who believes that Winnie is a mazemaker and knows the secret of the last turn. While Mazemaker isn't one of the best time-travel fantasies ever written, it does have a good puzzle as its base and should satisfy readers looking for some light fare. --Susan M. Harding, Mesquite Public Library, Tex.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Winnie and her friend Harry have only the city schoolyard to hang out in, with its broken glass and graffiti-covered walls. But one day a cat they've found runs through a spray-painted maze they discover--and disappears. Winnie, too, runs the maze, which transports her through time to 1889, and delivers her into the hands of a deranged woman, Mrs. Minot, who is determined to use the maze's power for herself. Winnie learns of others who have disappeared; if she is to find her own way home, she must prevent Mrs. Minot from altering time. While not as chilling as Dexter's Oracle Doll , Mazemaker is still riveting, with likable characters in Winnie, Harry and Lily. The ending, if plausible, is a little too easy, but overall the book is a worthwhile read. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.