I read this book in the 70s or 80s. It was titled something like “The girl, the witch, and the cat” or something. I really only remember that the title had a list of 2 or 3 things and said witch. It is not the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. I believe there were 3 books in the series. It was about a girl around 12? who befriends a kooky old lady who turns out to be a good witch. The 2 become very close, like family. I believe the girl is an only child. There may also be an old warlock who is friends with the old lady. One part i remember is there is an old friend of the lady who tries to kill or put a spell on her. This results in the girl having to drive the old lady’s car to help save her. When she looks in the rear-view mirror she sees glowing eyes in the backseat; knows this is the bad lady. Somehow it all turns out good. It seems there may also be magical items such as a bowl, a phoenix, the cat, etc. Though I may be mixing those up with another beloved lost story.
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
This is The Letter, The Witch, and The Ring, by John Bellairs. Rose Rita Pottinger, a tomboy, goes on a road trip with her good friend and good witch Mrs. Zimmerman. They run afoul of a bad witch and Rose Rita does have to drive Mrs. Zimmerman to safety at one point.
The detail of the glowing eyes in the rear view mirror actually comes from the first book in the series, The House with a Clock in its Walls. The second book in the series is The Figure in the Shadows, The Letter, The Witch and The Ring is the third.
This sounds like The Letter, The Witch and the Ring by John Bellairs. It’s part of his Lewis Barnavelt series, but this book mostly features Rose Rita, Lewis’s friend (who lives with a warlock), and the witch Mrs Zimmerman (the good witch, friends with the warlock) that Rose Rita lives with.
Could be The Letter, the Witch and the Ring by John Bellairs.
Yes!! That’s totally it! that’s the book series!!! Yay!!!
I have searched and searched for the title of this series! I have asked librarians to no avail and even my teacher friends! I am ordering this right now, thank you for figuring this out!
Wow! This sounds like the book(s) I have been trying to identify for decades! So glad someone else posed the stumper, because I couldn’t remember enough details.