Elizabeth is the loneliest only child in the whole US of A until she discovers Jennifer. Of course, Jennifer isn't a friend, really. Witches don't make friends, and Jennifer is a witch. Elizabeth becomes her apprentice, however, and in the process of learning how to become a witch herself, she also learns how to eat raw eggs, how to cast short spells, and how to get along with Jennifer, among other things. The relationship lasts from fall into spring. The girls meet each Saturday at the library and go from there to the park where they hold special ceremonies and read books on Witchcraft. The climax of their joint effort is to be a flying ointment, but it is here that trouble crops up. Though this story is set in suburban New York City, it could happen anywhere, for Elizabeth's problem, and Jennifer's problem, the need for a friend, can happen to anyone.

E.L. KonigsburgE.L. Konigsburg was born in New York City but did most of her growing up in small towns in Pennsylvania. She graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University as a chemist, and has done both research and teaching in that field. After the youngest of her three children entered school, she began writing. Her books are Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, a Newbery Honor book; From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the Newbery Award winner in 1968 and later a William Allen White Award winner; About the B'nai Bagels; (George); Altogether, One at a Time. A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver; The Dragon in the Ghetto Caper; The Second Mrs. Giaconda; Father's Arcane Daughter; Throwing Shadows; and Journey to an 800 Number.She and her family now live in Jacksonville, Florida, where she enjoys painting, gardening, and walking on the beach-the latter two only in fine weather.