''Alchemy'' (published in 2004) is a novel for older children by the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

author

Margaret Mahy Margaret Mahy (21 March 1936 – 23 July 2012) was a New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. Many of her story plots have strong supernatural elements but her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growi ...

Plot summary

Roland, a 7th former who has been caught shoplifting, is given an unusual assignment: to spy on a mysterious girl in his class who is studying

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

. Jess Ferret is an eccentric girl who likes playing with words. However, an enemy from the boy's past wants the girl's power and is using him for information. Roland eventually finds out that he is not unlike Jess and her abilities, but gets them both into a situation which endangers their lives. ''Alchemy'' has similar themes to two other books by Mahy, ''

The Changeover ''The Changeover: a Supernatural Romance'' is a low fantasy novel for young adults by Margaret Mahy, published in 1984 by J. M. Dent in the U.K. It is set in Christchurch in the author's native New Zealand. Mahy and ''The Changeover'' won t ...

'' and '' The Haunting''. The book won the senior fiction section of the 2003 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards.

References

2004 novels New Zealand fantasy novels Young adult fantasy novels New Zealand children's books Fiction about alchemy HarperCollins books 2004 children's books 21st-century New Zealand novels Books by Margaret Mahy {{2000s-ya-fantasy-novel-stub