YA Magical Realism Pick: Winterwood

Winterwood
by Shea Ernshaw
Simon Pulse
2019
319 pages
ISBN: 9781534439412

Ethereal, mysterious, magical, and poetic, Winterwood will be your YA favorite read!

Nora Walker was born near the wild woods. Her family has been a part of the woods since before the woods themselves. The Walker women have a mythology of their own. Townspeople claim that the Walker women are witches and to be feared.

When a brutal snowstorm comes, Nora knows she'll be snowed in for weeks. There is no way to access the town for supplies or help and no contact with the outside world. She's not afraid; that's just the way things have always been, but when she finds an unconscious boy in the woods, she knows she has to save him. Her mother and her grandmother before her have left Nora with a spell book and book of healing cures. She works her magic, and the boy comes back to life. He's from the boys' camp on the other side of the lake, but doesn't remember much else.

Oliver has no memory of why he was in the woods or how he could still be alive. He's been missing for weeks, and there's no way he could have survived the wild woods. Nora knows something is wrong and the woods begin acting stranger than usual, but Oliver is so alone, Nora feels herself drawn to him. When a white moth begins to seek her out, she knows death is not far behind. What happened that night?

Suzy, a girl from Nora's school, one who has never spoken to her before, arrives on her doorstep, seeking a warm place to weather the storm. She has a tale of her own about the boys' camp. There is one boy dead and one boy missing. Nora knows she'll have to confront Oliver. What does he know about the dead boy? Did he have anything to do with his murder? The unexpected TWIST at the end is EPIC! I LOVE THIS BOOK!

Masterful storytelling and compelling, poetic prose that seems to sing off the pages make Winterwood the best YA read of 2019! This one will be up for awards season.

Beautiful cover art is a masterpiece of graphic design and marketing.

Highly, highly recommended. A must have and a MUST READ. 5 STARS!

Middle Grade Pick: The Dark Lord Clementine

The Dark Lord Clementine
by Sarah Jean Horwitz
Algonquin Young Readers
2019
329 pages
ISBN: 9781616208943

Middle grade readers: get ready to be delighted, enthralled and enrapt in the immersive world of master storyteller Sarah Jean Horwitz!

Clementine Morcerous is the only child and sole heir to Castle Brack. When her father falls ill to a cunning spell cast by the Whittle Witch (the Witch of the Wood), it's up to Clementine to figure out how to help him and keep their castle and lands running. Father's magic is running out, the scarecrows aren't working in the land, the castle witch runs away with their grocery money, and everything is turning topsy turvy. Things are getting worse on an hourly basis, and unless Clementine moves fast, they could lose everything.

Clementine must find the Whittle Witch and figure out how to undo her magic, fix her father, get the magic back into the castle on pretend to be just as dark and menacing as the Dark Lord himself without ever letting any of the town's people know the Dark Lord is ailing. Everyone knows what happens if the Dark Lord appears weak: the people will wreak havoc and take over the castle. Clementine can't let that happen.

She turns to a magical book: the Witchionary! which has "...cataloged and chronicled" details of the Dark Lord's most dreaded enemies: witches. With her sidekicks a talking sheep, a young boy from town and help from a stranger, Clementine searches to find her place in the world and answers to her father's predicament.

Captivating and mesmerizing, full of wit and snark, and whimsical beings including witches who are indentured servants and a satyr who trades goods for spells, the Lady of the Lake (from Arthurian legend) who is indeed beautiful. But as beautiful as she is, she is an equally horrible singer with a bad memory, and worse yet she keeps mixing her metaphors which is laugh out loud funny.  She's so ditsy,  she'll throw swords at anyone who passes her whether it be a knight or not (hence the swords all over the book cover).

The Dark Lord Clementine will be up for Book of the Year and awarded many state awards.  You heard it here first! It is a rare middle grade find and a soaring triumph that kids will be delighted to read. Clementine is one tough female with equal parts intelligence, humor, and bravery. No matter how dire her predicament, she summons the strength to move forward and do what is right.

Highly, highly recommended as a MUST READ. If you have middle grade kids or know some, buy this book now! A must for all middle grade collections.

Grade 4 and up.

Magical Pick: House of Ivy & Sorrow

House of Ivy & Sorrow
by Natalie Whipple
HarperTeen
2014
362 pages
ISBN: 9780062120182

Magical, mesmerizing, melodious, and macabre, House of Ivy & Sorrow is a witchy, devilish good book!

Seventeen  year old Josephine Hemlock lives with her grandmother in a little house under the bridge guarded by magic. There are only two doors in and they are hidden to the outside world. Magic keeps Jo and her grandmother safe from the outside world and away from other witching families. Jo's mother Carmina died years ago, and her grandmother casts a number of spells to keep Jo safe. When a stranger from the past shows up, he brings an evil danger with him.

Jo's friend Kat witnesses her magic and it is agreed that the two girls be bound together with a binding spell. This will keep both of them from harm, they hope.  The evil is getting stronger and the girls are in a race against time to find something...anything in the Hemlock history that will help explain who might be after Jo.

Digging into a witch family's history is a arduous task. As they uncover ancestor after ancestor, new questions surface. How long can Jo keep her friend safe from danger? A witch can never love or marry; does it make sense for Jo to date swoon worthy and nice guy Winn knowing that she can never experience lasting  love?

Cover design with trailing ivy is repeated on chapter numbers and on page numbers throughout the book. I like the idea that magic exists in all things and that witches learn to control energy. The witches in this book aren't the sunshine-y witches of Bewitched; these witches mean business and they're not afraid of eye of newt or wing of bat.

Recommended grade 7-up. Some kissing. Magic. Spells.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Spooky Pick: The Demon Notebook

The Demon Notebook
by Erika McGann
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
2014
224 pages
ISBN: 9781402295386
Available June 2014

See the author reading an excerpt

Friends Grace, Rachel, Adie, Una and Jenny find a book of spells. The girls are charmed (pun intended) by the spells and even try out a few for fun. When none of their spells work, the girls assume the book is useless and ignore the fact that they may be responsible for unleashing terrible future events.

A run-in with a Ouija board turns their world upside down. Una begins  acting strange and the girls fear the worst. Next, swoon-worthy James is following Grace around like a love-struck puppy and classmate Andrew wets his pants. Suddenly, the spells aren't funny anymore. The girls realize their dabbling in magic can be hurtful and now they feel like bullies.

The magic needs to be undone and the girls turn to the only answer they can think of--the local cat lady. Kids at school tell stories about her--that she's a witch and she can put curses on people. The old lady agrees to help them but warns them that there will be no chickening out. The spells continue working while the girls worry that time is running out.

The girls find out they have a secret friend at the school who is able to help. Will they be able to get the old Una back and banish the demon before someone gets really hurt? Who will they trust to find the answers? What are they willing to risk to set things right?

Recommended for readers who like a funny adventure with dangerous magic.
Grade 5-up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Bewitching Pick: The Book of Spells

The Book of Spells: A Private Prequel
by Kate Brian
Simon & Schuster, 2010
303 pages, with sneak peek Ominous

The Book of Spells is an enjoyable, well-written page turner.

Eliza Williams can't wait to go to boarding school in Boston! She has had enough of her mother's prying eyes--Eliza can't even read what she wants. Her mother thinks that "proper" ladies shouldn't read the great books--leave that to the men. Eliza is a sassy extrovert who has other ideas.

Arriving at the Billings School for Girls in 1915, Eliza finds that her roommate is a likeable girl named Catherine White. All the other girls are nice enough with the exception of Theresa Billings, granddaughter of the school's founder. Theresa is spoiled, snippy, and downright bossy. Too bad that she's engaged to Harrison, the boy Eliza spots from the carriage when she first arrives.

When Eliza unearths a wooden box containing books on witchcraft, she and the others plan to have a little fun. What could be wrong with a little spell or two here and there? The girls form a "club" where twelve must be present in order for any spell to work. They practice spells that make them silent--no sound they make can be heard by others--including the headmistress! This allows them to sneak out and frolic the grounds at night and even visit the boys' school next door without being heard.

What will happen when mean girl Theresa finds out that Eliza has met Harrison at midnight? When a terrible accident threatens their "club" and their lives, the girls must decide whether to practice a darker magic or bury the secrets.

Girls who like mystery and light romance will be drawn to this read.

Ominous, the next in this series, is available February 22, 2011.

Recommended grades 7-up. No language or sex.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.

Chick Pick

Karma Bites
by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas
Sandpiper (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), 2010
340 pages

Franny Flanders is having bad karma: her parents are newly divorced, her kid brothers fight all the time, her friends belong to different cliques and she has to walk the minefield at school to avoid angering either clique, and to top it all off, her hippie grandmother has moved in with them and is practicing white magic, yoga, and zen Buddhism. When not in a trace or drinking yak butter tea, Granny is communicating with unknown spirits like the time she came home from Africa and brought back an angry presence who tore up the back yard. Franny is mortified and cannot bear her grandmother meeting any of her friends.

When Franny uses magic from a mysterious box in Granny's closet, things start to unravel in a very bad way. Middle school has never been funnier. Franny is a typical middle school girl trying to fit in and make all her friends get along, so what's wrong with using a little magic here and there?

It's called the Butterfly Effect and it states that if one little thing happens in the universe like the flutter of a butterfly's wings or a panda turning over in his den, it can trigger a ton of reactions that change the universe forever.

Franny is going to need her granny's help to sort out this chaos. The clique system goes awry and Franny has her first grown-up dance.

A totally charming, fun read for girls; appropriate for grades 6-9.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.

Paranormal Pick

13 Treasures
by Michelle Harrison
Little, Brown and Company, 2010.
355 pages

A remarkable debut novel from a new voice across the pond (England). 13 Treasures is truly a treasure of a book. Tanya's mother forces her to go to her grandmother's spooky family estate far from the city. Tanya thinks the old mansion is creepy and overgrown and especially can't stand being around Fabian, the estate manager's son. At least her mother allowed her to take her trusted dog Oberon with her.

Soon, the house's dark side is revealed and Tanya is given a charm bracelet with 13 weird charms. A gypsy woman, considered a witch by townsfolk, gives Tanya a strange compass that seems to be broken.

Fairies, good and bad, want Tanya to come to Hangman's Wood. With Fabian's help, Tanya hopes to solve her family's mystery and fix its tainted past and free herself forever from the fairies.

Harrison has a gift for setting and tone. For example when describing Tickey End (love that name for a town) Harrison writes, "It was also the kind of town where everybody knew everybody, and if you were a stranger curtains would twitch as you walked past."

Masterful storytelling! 13 Treasures is a quick read--a real page-turner. Readers who love mystery, gothic elements, fairy tales, and things that go bump in the night will love this tale.

Highly, highly recommended: grades 6-10.

FTC Required Disclosure: I bought this book for my middle school library. I received no monetary compensation for this review.