Return from Witch Mountain by Alexander Key

Witch Mountain

by Alexander Key

Tony and Tia, those daring kids from another world, must protect their supernatural powers from the greedy Letha and her power-hungry scientist friend who want to exploit their mysterious abilities. A rousing tale written by Alexander Key, the author of Escape to Witch Mountain, plunges Tony and Tia into a wild and dangerous race against time to outwit their evil enemies and escape back home.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Childrens, Adventure, Paranormal

Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

An American science fiction writer, most of whose books were aimed at a juvenile audience. He became a nationally known illustrator before he became an author. After he began writing novels for young people, he moved his family to the North Carolina mountains, and most of his books include that wild and rugged landscape.

His novel Escape to Witch Mountain was made into a popular film in 1975 and again in 1995. His novel The Incredible Tide became a popular anime series, Future Boy Conan.

He is known for his portrayals of alien but human-like people who have psychic powers and a close communion with nature, and who can speak with animals. In The Strange White Doves, he professed his belief that animals are conscious and aware, and have subtle ways of communicating, perhaps via telepathy.

The protagonists of Key's books are often ostracized, feared, or persecuted due to their abilities or alien origin, and Key uses this as a clear metaphor for racism and other prejudice. In several of the books (most notably The Case of the Vanishing Boy,) Key portrays some sort of communal withdrawing from society with a group of like-minded individuals. - Wikipedia -

Reviews

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this being a book club purchase from elementary school. You remember, one you picked out from a “catalog”,then returned the form and $ to the teacher, and began the waiting process for that big box to arrive in your classroom. And then waited some more, because any teacher with half a brain waited until the end of the day to open said box!
Fun times, sweet memories!

[Kaylynn Johnsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh yeah, I was sooooo in love with Tony (Ike Eisenmann). What a geek. Not as good as the first book. But, you gotta love kids that can kill you with their brains.

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

All the narrative flaws of the first book and all of the structural flaws of second movie. How can you go wrong? (With stilted dialogue and terrible pseudoscience, that's how.)

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not quite the same as watching the movie, but this novelization builds nicely upon it, blending the Disney sequel with Key's original book, Escape to Witch Mountain. Tia could always speak in both the Disney films, but in the first book could only communicate telepathically. In this story it is explained that she learned to speak like humans since the end of the first book. I liked that a couple of story gaps were filled with this novelization. We get to see that while Tony is trapped under Gannon's mind control, part of his consciousness is still present and struggling to regain control. There is an actual telepathic conversation with Alfred the goat, which is a fun touch. I always assumed that Tia couldn't contact Uncle Bene for help because he was too far away for her telepathy to reach him, so I was very happy to see it confirmed here.

The movie sequel seems to be quite divisive, so no doubt this book would be too. But I love the film, and enjoyed the book almost as much. If you like the Return From Witch Mountain film, it's worth tracking down a copy of the book version too!

[Dexter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I unfortunately have no nostalgia for this book. I never read it as a kid and never saw the movie, only the first one hundreds of times over. I think if I did, I'd enjoy it a lot more.

It's ridiculously over the top, action-packed with car chase scenes and telekinetic battles and MIND CONTROL. There's an adorable gang of truants, a philosophical goat, and a mad scientist hellbent on power gained through odd and impractical means. It's a fun, wild ride I'd have loved as a kid, but nothing close to the mystery and adventure of the first book.

Not to mention, what the heck were Tia and Tony SUPPOSED to be doing this whole time?

[Robert Koehler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Return from Witch Mountain, the 1978 sequel to the 1968 classic Escape to Witch Mountain, lacks the depth and mystery of the first book. Although written by the same author, Alexander Key did not invent the storyline himself; rather it is a novelization of the 1978 film. Return sends Tony and Tia to L.A. for what’s meant to be an educational trip, only for Tony to fall under the control of a cartoonish mad scientist and his sidekicks. The story feels more like action-adventure than thoughtful sci-fi, and some plot choices—like Uncle Bené inexplicably being alive—are inconsistent with and undermine the emotional weight of the first book. It’s an entertaining follow-up, but a far weaker one.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the adventure series that involve Tony and Tia, siblings that have a few secrets and head on amazing adventures

[Steve]

Did you guys know there was a 47 minute “Magical World of Disney” episode called “Beyond Witch Mountain?” I’m trying to find a copy: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249397/

[Ivy Fawcett · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I can say is that I LLLOOOVVVEEEDDD this book, my favourite character is Alfred

[John Peel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This time around, Alexander Key novelized the script to the second Witch Mountain movie. It's basically a kiddie film, without any attempt at plausibility, and nowhere near as good as the first book.

[Leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Retro but booring

[fruitcake · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tony and Tia begin a vacation in Los Angeles when Tony is kidnapped by an evil scientist who wants to use his powers. Based on the movie.

This book is painful. The characters are so flat and dumb. And the villains are laughable. There's a villain who has invented the technology of mind control, who uses this power to terrorize the populace and become the world's most famous scientist. The other villain just wants money, and screws things up in her pursuit of it. They do some really stupid things--like not killing or assimilating Tia when they have the chance. Bumbling villains.

It follows the screenplay closely. Don't expect anything new here that wasn't in the movie, except for the revelation that Tony is aware of everything that is going on around him and just unable to do anything about it.

The very interesting part of this story would be what happens after all of this occurs. Of course, it's not in this book. I guess that's what fan fiction was invented for.

[Swankivy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't read the previous book, but I'd seen the movie as a kid and found parts of it compelling even though it mostly felt weirdly embarrassing to watch it. (I can't really explain why.) I figured the book would tell me what happened to the kids after the place the movie left off. Mostly I just remember it being a book about Tony getting brainwashed and his sister and others having to save him, and I remember having a hard time picturing them as older than they were in the movie. The explanations for what was going on bothered me and seemed like they didn't quite make sense even though I don't think I knew enough about science at the time to be able to elaborate on why. I remember it being kind of hard to follow and thinking the dialogue was wooden, and so I ended up skimming the second half of the book and not really caring what happened.

[Julie Decker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tony and Tia are from another planet, and they have unusual abilities, but mostly they've been trying to blend in. But then, when Tony goes missing and gets brainwashed by scientists who want to use his incredible powers for their own purposes, Tia has to use her wits and her own power to get back the brother she loves.

According to info attached to this book, it's a novelization of a movie I didn't see. That explains a lot about why I had a very hard time connecting to the characters' motivations. Especially the scientists. They don't seem to actually want anything beyond "mwa ha ha we must control them." The dialogue was especially difficult to not laugh at. The one thing I did like, concept-wise, was that it's the boy who is kidnapped and the girl who has to come to the rescue.

[Deena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm. I'm sure I didn't read this as a kid, but I also didn't see the movie until I was an adult. I don't recall even knowing that there was a second movie until I was an adult. I wasn't missing naything. This book might have been worth something if they'd let Key write the story in the first place. Instead, someone used Key's characters to write the movie, and then Key "wrote" the book. I hope he got piles of money. I'm just OCD enough that I'll keep the book, but I won't bother reading it again.

[Twine & Ribbon · Rating 1 out of 5]

For having really enjoyed the first book, this one fell flat for me. It felt contrived. If you had asked me, I would have told you it couldn't have been written by Alexander Key! It really felt like the first one was written as an original work while this one was just written specifically as a follow up to the movie. It lost something there.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

so i read this when i was about 9 or 10 and every time my friends and i would pretend play - i had to be Tia!

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

the sequel to escape to witch mountain

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read these two books when I was much younger and enjoyed them then, "Escape from Witch Mountain" and "Return from Witch Mountain". Never saw the movies....they seldom do the books justice.

[Cws]

SF-Key

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first book but a definite recommendation for the younger set.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kids with psychic powers! I was totally on board with this as a kid, although I happened to catch the movie a few years ago and it wasn't what 'twas.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as other books I've read by Alexander Key...

[Corinne]

I loved it so much, I still read it constantly because it is so good, but I recommend reading the first book before this.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the movie & the book

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

1988 grade C+

Juvenile.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book. It's been a long time since I've seen the movie, so I can't really compare it, like I did the first book.

[Hellen Oliveira]

ME APAIXONEI PELO LIVRO ... MAS DO QUE PELO FILME.

[N Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a children's book, but I still find the characters two-dimensional and many of the plot points (e.g. mind control) ridiculous. There are so many netter books out there.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize when I picked up this book that it's actually a novelization of the film. As many times as I saw the original film as a kid, I don't think I ever saw the sequel, so I don't have the same nostalgia for it, and it's definitely different to the original book, which I just finished reading and is thus much fresher in my mind than the film, which I haven't seen in thirty years or so.

The first chapter was a real disappointment, as just right off the bat it had a totally different feeling than the first book. Not only were many key points different (which to Key's credit, he did do his best to try and explain away, such as "oh, we'd thought Uncle Bene was dead but he survived" and "while we were gone Tia learned to speak vocally", but there was also a weird overuse of scientific terms for their powers that just felt out of place.

But as I continued reading, I got sucked into the story and the annoyances faded away and I did end up enjoying it. Though the addition of a psychic goat who helped save the day definitely made me feel like yeah, this is an old Disney movie all right.