Novel: The Changeover

Overview
The Changeover follows Laura Chant, a sharp-witted and fiercely protective teenage girl living in Christchurch, New Zealand, as she confronts a dark supernatural threat to her family. When her younger brother, Jacko, falls under the influence of a malevolent, ancient spirit, Laura refuses to accept the helpless role others expect of her. The novel charts her journey from determined ordinary teenager into a powerful, self-possessed witch through danger, courage, and a deepening understanding of love and responsibility.

Plot
The story opens in the familiar world of suburban Christchurch, where everyday details of school, family tensions, and adolescent life form the backdrop to an unsettling intrusion. Jacko acquires the attention of a predatory, ancient intelligence that drains and manipulates him, leaving him altered and endangered. Conventional adult responses fail or fall short, and Laura decides to take direct action to save her brother.
Laura seeks out the only route that can meet the creature on its own terms: the changeover, a deliberate, perilous transformation that will allow her to wield the powers and perspective necessary to confront the spirit. Guided by cryptic knowledge and an alliance with an enigmatic, older supernatural figure, Laura undergoes trials that test her courage, cunning, and moral resolve. The novel builds to a tense confrontation in which Laura's emotional commitment to Jacko and her hard-won skills are both required to outwit and defeat the ancient menace.

Characters
Laura Chant is the novel's heart: fiercely loyal, witty, outspoken, and resourceful. Her voice carries both teen anger and a mature ethical clarity, making her a convincing and sympathetic heroine. Jacko, younger and impulsive, anchors Laura's motivations; his vulnerability sparks her transformation and highlights themes of family obligation and protective love.
Supporting figures include members of Laura's circle who represent ordinary human responses, skepticism, fear, helplessness, and at least one older, otherworldly ally who provides the knowledge and ritual means to undertake the changeover. These characters help illuminate Laura's growth and the costs and demands of facing the uncanny.

Themes and style
At its core, The Changeover explores initiation and empowerment, treating witchcraft as a form of mature agency rather than mere spectacle. Mahy frames the supernatural as inseparable from adolescent experience: learning to stand up, to take responsibility for others, and to claim identity in a world that often underestimates girls. Love, both familial and, subtly, romantic, acts as a moral force that drives the narrative and legitimizes Laura's transformation.
Margaret Mahy's prose combines clear, economical storytelling with moments of eerie lyricism. The pacing balances suspenseful confrontation with quieter, character-driven scenes, letting psychological detail deepen the uncanny elements. The novel's tone shifts deftly between wry teenage commentary and mythic intensity, making the extraordinary feel both plausible and resonant.

Setting and atmosphere
Christchurch and its suburban landscape are rendered with lived-in specificity, which grounds the story's supernatural disruptions in convincing everyday life. The contrast between the ordinary setting and the alien presence heightens the novel's tension, giving the magic scenes a sharp, unsettling quality. Atmospheric descriptions of night, weather, and ritual spaces amplify the sense that the familiar world harbors deeper, older powers.

Impact
The Changeover remains a touchstone in young adult fantasy for its confident female protagonist, its fusion of domestic realism with mythic horror, and its deft treatment of coming-of-age as a moral and supernatural rite. Its emotional clarity and imaginative ambition have kept the novel influential and widely read, appealing to those who enjoy a story where courage, cleverness, and love combine to face the darkness.