They'd grown up together, had seen a lot of life, and were mostly inseparable, through six decades of raven, starve-acre days.

Much research is conducted by botanists, biotechnologists and other scientists, who study methods of producing disease-resistant, high yielding varieties of tea, as also strainsthat produce leaves that are natural blends of various teas. They receive advice from tea tasters on commercial factors like taste, economic viability and maturability of tea.

It could all be deadly earnest if she didn't have a sense of humor. My favorite sentence is a chapter title: Every time you hear a bell, a Muggle has turned magical.

It’s tempting to compare Abe Foxman with Al Sharpton, another portly, bellicose, melodramatizing defender of ethnic ramparts.