By Zilpha Keatley Snyder
The Headless Cupid was one of my very favorite books as an elementary school student. The four Stanley children: responsible David, chatter-box Janie, stubborn Tesser, and her twin quiet Blair have learned to live without a mother since their own mother died a few years ago. Now their dad has married Molly who has an almost-teenage daughter named Amanda.
At first David and his siblings are excited to get a new sister, but Amanda is not at all what they expected. She is crabby and claims to be studying witchcraft (or the "occult").
The cupid in the title is a wooden carved decoration that is part of the staircase in the old home where the family lives. The head was cut off decades and has been missing ever since.
In this story the witchcraft is not real like it is in the Harry Potter series. It is handled in a way that is exciting, but not too scary. I tend to stay away from stories that feel too creepy or promote things that are not uplifting. This is a great book that I don't have to worry about any of these issues when I read it.
