The Golden Thread    by Suzy McKee Charnas Order:  USA  Can Wildside, 2001 (1989) Hardcover, Softcover     Reviewed by Hilary Williamson As Valentine Marsh's beloved grandmother lies comatose in hospital, Val's embroiled once again in magical conflict. This time, it involves a 'Comet Committee' of school friends and acquaintances, who inadvertently broadcast power together on New Year's Eve. Joel (Val's partner in crime in the first of the series, The Bronze King) shows up again in New York, as their rocky relationship continues to develop, based on music and magic. The somewhat ambiguous villain of the piece is 'foreign exchange student' Bosanka Lonat. Val is assigned as the bullying Bosanka's host, and is quickly on the receiving end of imperious demands, backed by frightening shapechanging abilities. Val - with some help from friends Lennie, Barb ('the world's first psychic spy'), and Joel - frantically seeks to oppose Bosanka and prevent her and her 'people' from attaining the same powers on earth that they clearly abused on their own plane. Joel reconstructs a violin from pieces of the dead Paavo's and seeks his own magic through music. The tale reaches its crescendo in Central Park and in the Comet Committee's communication with an ocean of cetaceans. Val explores romance with both Joel and Lennie (with whom she discovers why people kiss ... 'What a thing to find out the day before doomsday.') And Gran finally dies, after a poignant, but inspiring farewell to Val, who has gained confidence in her own abilities in this episode, and also learned the value of 'a team thing'. Though my favorite of this trilogy is still The Silver Glove, I found The Golden Thread engrossing, and hope that the author plans to write more in this series. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Teens books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews