The Charmed List
A Novel
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
"The best friends to enemies-to-lovers story I needed in my life! The Charmed List utterly enchants with its delightful characters and heartfelt themes of family, friendship, and first love. I adored this fun-filled and swoony road trip romance with a magical twist!" —Axie Oh, author of XOXO and The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea
Sometimes you need a little magic to fall in love.
Ellie Kobata has spent most of high school on the sidelines, keeping her art Instagram private and shying away from the world. She can’t even tell her only friend, Lia, who she really is: Ellie is part of a secret magical community, and no one outside of it can know it exists. The only person Ellie could fully relate to was Jack Yasuda – her childhood friend who mysteriously started to snub her a few years ago.
But before senior year, Ellie is ready to take some risks and have a life-changing summer, starting with her Anti-Wallflower List – thirteen items she’s going to check off one by one. With this list, she hopes to finally come out of her shell; even though she can’t share her full self with the world. But when number four on Ellie’s list goes horribly wrong—revenge on Jack Yasuda—she’s certain her summer is cursed. Instead of spending her summer with Lia, Ellie finds herself stuck in a car with Jack driving to a magical convention. But as Ellie and Jack travel down the coast of California, number thirteen on her list—fall in love—may be happening without her realizing it.
In The Charmed List, Julie Abe sweeps readers away to a secret magical world, complete with cupcakes and tea with added sparks of joy, and an enchanted cottage where you can dance under the stars.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former best friends Ellie and Jack reluctantly road-trip to a magic convention in Abe's (Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch) lighthearted contemporary fantasy. Japanese American Ellie Kobata, a rising high school senior, has struggled to understand why her Japanese and Italian former best friend, Jack Yasuda, started pretending she didn't exist back in seventh grade, despite their connection as two of the few magic-aware individuals in Palo Alto, Calif. Tired of feeling invisible, Ellie develops the Anti-Wallflower List, comprising 13 goals, which include crashing a wedding and getting revenge on Jack; Ellie plans to complete the list before starting senior year. But when the revenge plot goes wrong, Ellie and Jack are forced to travel together to the California Magical Retailers' Convention to mind their families' respective enchanted establishments. Despite their constant bickering, Ellie is shocked to realize that Jack is inadvertently helping her cross things off the list—including falling in love. While the magical system is only perfunctorily explored, its fantastical elements, such as whimsical secret cottages and enchanted tea, add nuance to an otherwise straightforward courtship. Equal parts road-trip romp and endearing second-chance romance, Abe's rom-com is a sweet summer treat. Ages 13–up.