This is the first in the Viking Magic trilogy. It tells the story of Thora and Oddo, who were switched at birth by the village midwife after fears a father-to-be would leave a baby girl in the woods for the wolves. They have both grown up in a small Viking village. Thora has the feeling she doesn’t belong to her spellmaker family as she can’t make her magic spells work. Across the valley, Oddo is supposed to be a farmer but finds he can change the weather and control animals. His father dislikes magic and so Oddo is forced to hide his abilities. Thora and Oddo meet and become friends learning to help each other out. Thora can tell Oddo more about magic and he can teach her about growing things. Unfortunately a magical spell goes terribly wrong and to put things right they must undergo a perilous sea voyage. An interesting fantasy with lots of Viking details. The Futhark (Runes of the Viking Alphabet) is included on the back page. This worked well as a read aloud to my nine-year-old daughter who is looking forward to hearing the second in the series. ( )