The Magic Necklace of Al-Andalus is a historical fantasy novel. The historical part occurs, with one Roman digression, in Spain during the nearly 800 years of the Arab presence from their initial tidal-wave invasion in 711to their expulsion in 1492. The Arab tide receded southward but then remained largely in place for several centuries. Al-Andalus refers to these Arab-ruled areas in which the Arabs, Muslims, tolerated and often even welcomed Christians and Jews. Religion is important in the development of the four main characters, Cass, Thea, and Alan, teenagers in Philadelphia in 1951, and...