Mahy and The Changeover won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.

[1][2] WorldCat reports that The Changeover is Mahy's novel most widely held in participating libraries, second among all her works behind a picture book collaboration, The Seven Chinese Brothers (1989).

In some respects a coming-of-age story, it is also an unconventional romance between an aloof and difficult boy who happens to be a male witch and a strong-willed, psychically sensitive schoolgirl.

[8] It was described by The Guardian as "a seamless combination of supernatural thriller and entirely authentic teenage story",[9] and by the School Library Journal as "an extraordinarily rich and sensitive novel" with a beautiful but ornate style.

[12] A feature film based on the novel, starring Timothy Spall, Melanie Lynskey, Lucy Lawless, Nicholas Galitzine, Erana James and Kate Harcourt, was released in New Zealand on 28 September 2017.