Magic by the Lake, the third book in Eager’s “magic” series, takes place about three weeks after Half Magic and features the same characters. And although we had been told in the previous book that it was a “long time” before the kids found out if they would ever encounter magic again, Eager informs us, in a sentence that sounds suspiciously like that of a weary parent, that at that age, three weeks is a very, very long time indeed.
All of this discussion of time is a good setup for Magic by the Lake, which, thanks to some magic provided by—wait for it—the lake, interpreted by a rather irritable turtle, flings its four main characters, Jane, Mark, Katherine and Martha though time and space, and even, in one alarming incident, turns Jane and Katherine from kids into teenagers. Highly annoying teenagers. This glimpse of their future bodes well for no one, and almost gets a couple of other perfectly innocent teenagers almost in trouble for child molestation, not to mention soaking Mark and Martha’s good clothing and leaving it too tight for them for a full year.
[When magic doesn’t provide the financial security you hoped for, plus, meeting your future children, without realizing it.]