Here are 2 books that Phoebe Ogawa and the Art of Not Caring fans have personally recommended if you like
Phoebe Ogawa and the Art of Not Caring.
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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…
Twelve-year-old identical twins Ellie and Kat accidentally trigger their physicist mom’s unfinished time machine, launching themselves into a high-stakes adventure in 1970 Chicago. If they learn how to join forces and keep time travel out of the wrong hands, they might be able find a way home. Ellie’s gymnastics and…
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…
