Hi guys, this has been driving me crazy for about 20 years - hope someone can help!
When I was about 9 years old (around 1990) I read a book which I found at the J.S. Wood Branch of the Saskatoon Public Library. Here is what I can remember of the plot.
The protagonists are two children - a brother and sister. One day they go over to visit their neighbor down the street; she's a single woman who owns cats and is generally thought to be a bit odd. She reveals to them that she is a witch but that the magical twigs which power her broom are almost "used up" and need replacing. Unfortunately they can ONLY be obtained from a magical bush which lies in a parallel universe that can be reached using magic. (At this point in the book I remember a diagram that shows how the two worlds overlap). For some reason the witch herself can't go, but she asks the children to go for her.
This magical, alternate universe is like a copy of ours but with certain things changed. For example, a highway in our world might become a river in the other one, a shopping mall a castle, etc. I remember lots of monsters in the parallel universe as well...it's not a friendly place. The bush itself is guarded by a VERY deadly monster. I can't recall how the children evade it, though one of their main strategies is to navigate past obstacles by going back to our world and then "pop over" to the other one. (I also seem remember a scene involving a monster which somehow slips into a shopping mall in our world, and a giant pile of socks which then buries it, but that could just be something I dreamed up.)
Please help. This thing is driving me nuts!!!
