Seven Spells to Sunday

by Andre Norton, Phyllis Miller

Magic, Wishes and Strange Adventure
For unhappy Monnie Fitts and timid Bim Ross - two foster children who live the the Johnsons - finding an old, faded purple mailbox in a vacant lot was to be their secret. The seven mysterious stars painted on the door made it even more important - and strange. Once they wrote their names on it, life would be different for them.

Each day, as Monnie and Bim visit the mailbox, unusual gifts and notes appear - a broom, a wand, a light - even a voo-don't doll: in all, six magical wonders that plunge them deep into a week of unexplained happenings.

Not until the seventh suspenseful day do they know where the powerful spells will lead them. Frightened, but brave, the two children enter a supernatural world to find answers only they can understand.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction

168 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Andre Norton, born Alice Mary Norton, was a pioneering American author of science fiction and fantasy, widely regarded as the Grande Dame of those genres. She also wrote historical and contemporary fiction, publishing under the pen names Andre Alice Norton, Andrew North, and Allen Weston. She launched her career in 1934 with The Prince Commands, adopting the name “Andre” to appeal to a male readership. After working for the Cleveland Library System and the Library of Congress, she began publishing science fiction under “Andrew North” and fantasy under her own name. She became a full-time writer in 1958 and was known for her prolific output, including Star Man’s Son, 2250 A.D. and Witch World, the latter spawning a long-running series and shared universe. Norton was a founding member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America and authored Quag Keep, the first novel based on the Dungeons & Dragons game. She influenced generations of writers, including Lois McMaster Bujold and Mercedes Lackey. Among her many honors were being the first woman named Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and SFWA Grand Master. In her later years, she established the High Hallack Library to support research in genre fiction. Her legacy continues with the Andre Norton Award for young adult science fiction and fantasy.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book holds up pretty well 40 years later. It seems to relate to ideas about the "Shadow" self and how kids deal with anger, fear and helplessness in difficult situations at home or school. It's also nice to read a book about middle-schoolers using magic that doesn't rely on them having super-powers. Instead, they're just confused and excited.

[Cristov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another book from my childhood deserving a better review than I can give today but it resonated with me then.

[Rick Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two kids in the foster care system in an urban housing project find a odd purple country-style mailbox in a junk-filled vacant lot. When they write their names on it, they receive a series of gifts that start a succession of changes in their lives. But as the magical powers of the strange gifts grow, they find themselves facing dark forces that want to make sure that nothing for them ever gets better.

This was a fast-paced story, taking place in the space of a week, that does a good job of building tension while juggling a lot of moving parts. One thing the authors handle really well is the reaction of the kids to the introduction of supernatural powers into their lives. Both kids are genuinely frightened, and even though they are in on the secret, they are very hesitant to trust each other. The personalities of the kids felt very real, but the authors did have to resort to some heavyhanded contrivances at times to keep the characters from following this instincts to try to rid themselves of the strange magic items.

The story also left quite a bit unresolved, and felt in a lot of ways like the opening chapters of something longer and more epic. There was enough growth and change in the characters to be satisfying, and a good climactic struggle, but a great deal was left unanswered.

I'm not sure if there were any further adventures of Monnie and Bim written, but I would be interested in reading more of their story.

[Valerie]

Norton went through a period when she wrote several books about children in the foster care system, helped out by fairy godmothers (some of whom were more 'witchly' godmothers). This is one of them, aimed at a younger audience than some of the others.

There's a tendency in these children to reject normal human behavior (hopes, fears, tears) as infantile. Part of the healing process in these books is to convince them otherwise. But part of it, unfortunately, is a tendency to encourage bullying 'disciplinarian' solutions imposed on children who are ALREADY the victims of impersonal bullying by their society. I don't see how personalized bullying is any sort of improvement, frankly. Nor, for that matter, inducing
self-hatred, violent responses in the fearful, and abject conformism in the angry. These are not solutions: they're just further justifications for an abusive society. As with most 'problem' books, this one is very good at delineating the problems, but very bad at presenting resolutions.

[Vladimir Protasov · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite books when I was a kid. I read It in russian in a childhood, but I definitely will read it once again in english. Like all kids books by Andre Norton It is very kind, full of adventures and inspiring. Really makes me nostalgic.

[Min · Rating 2 out of 5]

This I read when it was published, and it is an interesting exploration of, in retrospect, how adults perceived and wrote about children. I, honestly, remember nothing of the story, only the name. This book feels its age, that is, YA -now- is more engaging. It is listed for early readers. I doubt today's readers would be interested in it when there are many more enthralling books available.
An Urban-Fantasy that has the slightest hint, and link to magic for two kids that need a new perspective to their lives that is provided by an old, beaten purple mailbox found on derelict property, with 7 stars on the outside.
The gifts the mailbox offer can only be beneficial, never are they meant to harm. This offers powerful lessons for them because they both hold a bitterness, and fear inside. One is a broom that inspired her to organize her room. A Voo-Don't Doll, with a mirrored face that allows her to bring happiness to others when she uses flower-headed pins.She tries the same beneficial results without the doll, and it works.

[Ashley Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't remember a thing about this book but I'm giving it 5 stars because it must have been fantastic to make me want to read instead of watching TV. You see, this is the very first book I ever read. That was back in the eighties and I was in my early teens.

This is what I like to call a gateway book. It got me hooked. Now I spend thousands a year on books. Parents don't let your kids read books like this. They will become addicted. I am a Functional Reader. I'm addicted but I have been able to hold down a job while being a reader.

[David R · Rating 5 out of 5]

This did not age well. I found my copy years ago in a used book shop. Alas my poor copy is now torn and cannot be replaced easily.

[Alison C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Monnie and Bim are foster children who discover a magical mailbox that, once they’ve written their names on it, delivers strange gifts to them; these gifts, in turn, lead them to an otherworldly dimension where they must learn to accept themselves and their own unusual “gifts”.... I enjoy children’s fantasies for the most part, and remember some of Andre Norton’s work fondly, but this one, published in 1979, was just so-so. A quick read, but one that is liable to leave your memory just as quickly.

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun middle-grade novel in which two kids who are in foster care, after having been bounced around in the care system for most of their lives, discover a strange mailbox in a junkyard. Strange things start happening, through the gifts the kids receive through the mailbox. If they use those gifts well, perhaps they could improve their lives permanently, but there are also terrible risks involved, and in the meantime they are still just in foster care, with no real place to call home.