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So this is a long shot, as I unfortunately don't remember many details, but I am trying to find a book I read about 20 years ago when I was a kid. I read it in my local library (in the UK) so it would have been late 90s or early 2000s that I read it, though the book could have been older.

It would have been from a female protagonist's POV, with a young girl (aged somewhere between 10-15) who somehow found she could access a magical realm, possibly through or with one of her family members. I think she had a brother and mother (I don't remember a father character but there may have been one without much focus on it). I think it centered more on family dynamics/relationships than friendships or any romantic kind of relationships.

Again, I don't remember much of the "laws" of the magic realm; people in the realm had magical powers and I assume the girl did, but I don't know if she only had powers when in the magical realm, nor do I remember the specifics of how she "travelled" there. I think time passed differently in the two worlds.

I think there was some sort of evil witch/sorceress who was targeting the girl as a threat, either because of some sort of prophecy or because the girl had such strong magic potential that she could grow up to be a threat.

It would either have been in the 5-10 age range or young adult. Likely a series, though I don't know that I ever got the chance to read any others beyond the first one.

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  • The Doomspell trilogy by Cliff McNish?
    – sueelleker
    Commented Jun 17 at 14:30
  • Oh maybe this could be it, I am going to try and get a copy of the book and read it to find out!
    – Nat
    Commented Jun 25 at 16:15

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It may be "Over Sea, Under Stone" by Susan Cooper, published in the '60s still very well represented in my local library in Ealing, London, in the '80s along with the rest of her "Dark is Rising" sequence. There are three children in the family, guided by wise great-uncle Merry in their adventures, but the daughter Jane Drew is not magical and the children triumph with wits and bravery.

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  • They don't "access a magical realm" in the first book. Not sure about later ones
    – MJ713
    Commented Jun 21 at 20:34
  • The books in the series have blended in my memory, I remember that sometimes the mood and atmosphere changed as if magic or evil threat strengthened in the landscape or setting where the children were, and later in the series Will Stanton had visions/ was transported to events long ago. @MJ713
    – narratorjay
    Commented Jun 22 at 15:48

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