This is a coming-of-age middle-grade novel that features many of the hallmarks of that genre. There's family drama, generational secrets to be discovered, and awkward friendships. However, what set this book apart for me is the authentic voice of the protagonist, Phoebe. She is so well-written and believable. I loved her slow evolution throughout the book, supported by strong secondary characters that also have their own carefully expressed character arcs. It's the kind of book that I can't wait to share with my students.
An emotional and deeply funny middle-grade novel about our public and private personas, and how sometimes it’s worth letting others see your true self—no matter how embarrassing.
12-year-old Phoebe Ogawa wants everyone at school to know that she does not care what they think. She definitely does not care about the fact that they’re still laughing about her heartfelt performance at last year’s talent show. Most of all, though, she tries to prove to everyone that she isn’t struggling as much as she actually is with her Grandma Yumi’s passing. To her surprise, her family discovers that Yumi, a world-renowned…
I'm a sucker for a good title, and that's all it took for me to pick up this book. What I loved about the idea is its specificity—a young magical character named Mona whose abilities are limited to working with dough. It's so refreshing, when most fantasy or superhero stories, especially for younger audiences, feature characters that seem to be able to do anything and everything. In terms of plot, the idea that Mona can only do limited magic raises stakes and offers plenty of opportunities for humor (such as the sentient sourdough starter named Bob and an anthropomorphic gingerbread man). The world building was expert, but natural, without a lot of extra detail forced upon the reader. In many ways, this felt like a smaller story that built its way to an epic finish.
Fourteen-year-old Mona isn't like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can't control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt's bakery making gingerbread men dance.
But Mona's life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona's city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of…
This book is marketed as fans for Ghibli films, and I think that's spot on. This book had a slow and careful pace, one that doesn't try to continuously "jump scare" you like so many other books designed for this age range. That in itself was refreshing. The books takes its time to build and the setting of the lonely castle in many ways offers comfort to the reader the same way as it does to the characters in the situation. The real payoff comes in the final section of the book. The ending was sublime.
For fans of BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD, fairy tale and magic are weaved together in sparse language that belies a flooring emotional punch.
'Strange and beautiful. Imagine the offspring of The Wind-up Bird Chronicle with The Virgin Suicides' GUARDIAN 'Genuinely affecting. A story of empathy, collaboration and sharing truths' FINANCIAL TIMES
Translated by Philip Gabriel, a translator of Murakami _______________________________
Would you share your deepest secrets to save a friend?
In a tranquil neighbourhood of Tokyo, seven teenagers wake to find their bedroom mirrors are shining.
At a single touch, they are pulled from their lonely lives to a…
There’s nothing magical about wizard school . . . at least, not for Cara Moone.
Most wizard kids spend their days practicing spells and wielding wands, but Cara? She’s on the fast track to becoming a MOP (a.k.a. Magical Occurrence Purger). You see, when a real wizard casts a spell, it leaves behind a residue called spell dust—which, if not disposed of properly, can cause absolute chaos in the nonmagical world. It’s a MOP’s job to clean up the mess.
And no one makes more of a mess than Harlee Wu. Believed to be the Chosen One, destined to save the magical world, Harlee makes magic look easy. Which makes her Cara’s sworn nemesis. Or she would be, if she even knew Cara existed.
Then one of Harlee’s spells leaves something downright dangerous behind it: a rift in the fabric of magic itself. And when more rifts start to appear around the school, all in places Harlee has recently used magic, Cara is pretty sure the so-called “Chosen One” isn’t going to save the world. She’s going to destroy it. It will take more than magic to clean up a mess this big. Fortunately, messes are kind of Cara’s thing.
