A Reluctant Witch's Guide to Magic
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Kiki's Delivery Service meets Cressida Cowell in this "exciting and imaginative" (Kirkus) middle grade fantasy about a non-magical girl who discovers she does, indeed, have magic—and she must choose between two warring witch covens or she'll explode!
Willa lives in the Wild, in a city squished between two warring witch covens. The non-magical Wildians spend their days dodging wayward spells—from raining frogs to dancing chickens—all because of the witch war raging around them.
Being stuck in the middle of a magical war means the Wildians hate witches—none more so than Willa, whose parents were turned into clouds by a misplaced curse. Willa spends her days with her army of cats, dreaming of an end to the war and her parents’ return.
So when Willa is accused of being a witch after witnesses catch her accidentally stopping a spell midair, she's certain there's been a mistake. She can't be a witch! Yet Willa is dragged to the palace, where she's given one year to master her volatile magic and choose a coven to join. If she doesn’t, she’ll explode.
But her attempts to control her magic are interrupted when a rogue witch begins nefarious spells against the Ordinary Folk. What does the witch want and what does it have to do with Willa? She must unravel the mystery to save her city, her friends, and herself.
What’s a girl who hates magic to do when she’s suddenly the most powerful witch in the city?
Secret Powers: Willa has spent her life hating magic, so discovering she’s a witch—and a powerful one at that—is her worst nightmare come true.Found Family: With help from a scrappy royal dogsbody named Gish and a bookish princess, Willa might just survive the year. If they don’t get into too much trouble first.Animal Companions: Followed everywhere by her loyal, one-eyed cat Talon and a whole army of strays, Willa is never truly alone.Coming of Age: A magical adventure about discovering who you are, finding your place, and learning that sometimes the thing you fear most is your greatest strength.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
For many years, the Ordinary Folk of the Island of Dreary have been caught between the two factions of the Witch War, occasionally becoming victims of wayward spells. Among those innocent bystanders is Willa Birdwhistle, "bold and unruly and headstrong" and portrayed on the book's cover as white, who lost her parents a year earlier to a stray curse. When she suddenly manifests magic on her 12th birthday, both covens lay claim to her, noting that should Willa not choose one by her 13th birthday, she'll explode. She's subsequently instructed in the ways of each coven: the "serene but vague" Silverclaws who rarely speak, never cut their hair or nails, and cast spells through dance, and the cruel Irontongues, "hairless, warty, and green," whose magic relies on tongue-twisting incantations. As the Witch War heats up, Willa works to understand her abilities and choose her destiny, though neither coven appeals to her. Juxtaposing Willa's earnest internal growth with an absurd and bureaucratic magical realm, Plozza (The Boy, the Wolf, and the Stars) creates a sense of alienation in the tween, even as she establishes new bonds, in this offbeat read with an archetypal heroine. Ages 8–12.
