Tag: witches

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Bone Soup puts a Halloween spin on a classic!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Bone Soup: A Spooky Tasty Tale, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli/Illustrated by Tom Knight, (July 2018, Simon & Schuster), $17.99, ISBN: 9781481486088

Ages 4-8

Naggy, Craggy, and Scraggy are three hungry witches. Alas, their cupboards are bare, but for a single bone. A single bone, you say? Piff-Poof! Naggy Witch has a plan: Bone Soup, the perfect Halloween treat! The witches travel throughout the town, gathering delights from the local monsters: a bit of water here, an eye of a giant there, some old toenails and some slimy sludge, until the entire town has contributed to a bone-chillingly delicious meal for all! Based on the classic tale, Stone Soup, Alyssa Satin Capucilli puts a wonderfully fun spin on this perfect read for preschoolers and, Kindergartners (and more!).

There’s repetition here that invites readers to join in: “Piff-Poof!” Naggy Witches cries as each ingredient goes into the cauldron, and the witches chant, with each stop, “Trick-or-treat! Trick-or-treat! We’ve something unusually good to eat. It’s bone soup, soup from a bone. A savory morsel is all it needs!” Get the kids chanting, let them be little monsters or witches, and pull out a cauldron (it’s Halloween season, you can find a $1.99 trick or treat cauldron anywhere) to let them throw goodies in.The charcoal and pencil art is adorable, with green, crazy-haired witches, giant blue monsters, and googly-eyed mummies and skeletons. The fonts are big and readable, changing size and color for emphasis. There’s a recipe for Naggy Witch’s Bone Soup at the end of the book, with thoughtful substitution suggestions for those of us who may balk at juice of a toad or colored flies. Author Alyssa Satin Capucilli has a great storytime activity kit for free download on her site, complete with word games for older readers, and a printable recipe to hand out to parents. My kids and my library kids know and love Ms. Capucilli’s Biscuit books, so that could be a good intro when telling parents about the author.

This would be a great feltboard storytime activity, or you can get creative and make your own eyeballs (ping pong balls are good), toenails (cut up some index cards into slivers), and a bone or two (it’s Halloween, there are plush or plastic bones to be found everywhere). I love this story, and can’t wait to get it in front of a group of Kindergartners next week for a Halloween storytime!

 

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Begone the Raggedy Witches: mystical, magical, Irish fantasy

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Begone the Raggedy Witches (Wild Magic #1), by Celine Kiernan, (Sept. 2018, Candlewick), $15.99, ISBN: 9780763699963

Ages 9+

Mup is a biracial girl living in Ireland with her family. On the night her Aunty dies, though, things change. The raggedy witches come for her mother; they’ve come to bring her back to their world, the Glittering Land, where an awful queen reigns: and who just happens to be Mup’s grandmother. When Mup’s mother holds them off the first time, the witches take more drastic measures, kidnapping Mup’s father. Mup, her mother, baby brother, and dog set off to the Glittering Land to save Dad, but will her Mam want to come back again, if she gets a taste for power – or survives her own mother?

Fantasy readers are going to be drawn right into Celine Kiernan’s mystical, magical tale. There are talking animals, shapeshifting kids, golden forests, and an evil queen to be reckoned with. Celine Kiernan creates a magical world beyond our imaginations, bringing to mind Narnia and Wonderland. The enchanted worldbuilding will keep your fantasy readers thrilled, and Mup’s heroine’s quest is thoughtful and intriguing. This is the first of a planned trilogy, so get your readers hooked now.

Begone the Raggedy Witches has a starred review from Kirkus.

Posted in Fantasy, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Toil and Trouble… Tales of witchcraft for YA and beyond

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Toil and Trouble, edited by Tess Sharpe and Jessica Spotswood, (Aug. 2018, Harlequin TEEN), $18.99, ISBN: 9781335016270

Ages 13+

Did you love Radical Element, with its historical fiction tales of young women breaking conventions and being amazing? Then you’ll love Toil & Trouble, an anthology loaded with tales of women and witchcraft. And not the Hocus Pocus, “I Put a Spell on You” type of witchcraft, either: these witches are in touch with nature and themselves; they’re multicultural, they’re queer, they’re angry, and they’re very, very human. Wild Beauty‘s Anna-Marie McLemore weaves a story about faith in “Love Spells”; Brooklyn Brujahs author Zoraida Cordova writes about the wisdom of age and the passing of generations in “Divine Are the Stars”. Robin Talley’s “The Legend of Stone Mary” goes the historic route, with the legend of a dead witch haunting a local community. Elizabeth May’s “Why They Watch Us Burn” is a chilling companion story to readers of The Handmaid’s Tale, simmering with rage and rebellion. The women in these stories are never victims, even while others may try to victimize them: they own their power, no matter what the circumstances may hold.

Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe have curated a strong collection of short stories written by strong authors here. There’s something for everyone in this volume, with strong, solitary characters who defend their homes to women who form a collective to survive. There are non-binary, LGBT, and cis characters, and there are characters from world cultures throughout. Characters confront big issues including sexual assault and emotional abuse. As Kirkus writes in its starred review, “No damsels in distress to be found here”. Toil and Trouble has starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist.

Find more books about witches in this great BookRiot feature.

(Note: I watch Hocus Pocus every Halloween; nothing but love for my Sanderson Sisters!)

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Teen, Tween Reads

The Sanderson Sisters are back in Hocus Pocus and the All-New Sequel

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Hocus Pocus and the All-New Sequel, by A.W. Jantha, (July 2018, Disney Book Group), $12.99, ISBN: 9781368020039

Recommended for readers 10+

Does everyone know who the Sanderson sisters are? No? Okay, quick recap: they’re three awful witch sisters from the 1993 Disney movie, Hocus Pocus. They had a particular taste for children and a spell that would let them live forever, until a teen named Max, his younger sister, Dani, and his crush, Allison, with the help of a talking cat named Binx. The movie starred Bette Midler, Kathy Najimi, and Sarah Jessica Parker as the Sanderson sisters, and went on to be a huge cult classic that still gets regular play throughout the year in my home. Late last year, news hit the media that the Sandersons were coming back for a sequel, and there was much rejoicing among Hocus Pocus fans. There was talk about a TV movie, either on Freeform or Disney Channel, with the working title Hocus Pocus 2: Rise of the Elderwitch, but that seems to have been squashed. However, just in time for the movie’s 25th anniversary, Disney Books has a book hitting shelves: Hocus Pocus & The All-New Sequel.

Anyway. The anniversary volume has a novelization of the 1993 movie, which is a fun, light, slightly macabre Halloween story about a boy, 2 girls, and a cat against three witches. The All-New Sequel continues the main characters’ story, 25 years later. Teen crushes Max and Allison have grown up and gotten married; they have a gay daughter, Poppy, who’s crushing on school It Girl Isabella. Max teaches at his old high school, and Allison is a lawyer. Neither are fans of Halloween, and their Salem, Massachusetts neighborhood thinks they’re crazy, because they’re super paranoid about witches – particularly the Sanderson history – and Halloween. (Why did they stay in Salem after the events of Hocus Pocus, especially if no one believes them?) Poppy, her best friend, Travis, and Isabella find themselves back at the Sanderson house, with Winifred Sanderson’s spell book and a ouija board, and end up bringing the sisters back from Hell: by swapping Poppy’s parents and Aunt Dani. They have until daybreak to locate the blood moonstone and reverse the spell, or the Sandersons will reign and Poppy’s family is doomed.

Where the original is light and fun, the sequel is darker; it’s more YA to the original’s middle grade. I like the added diversity and LGBTQ vibe that runs through the sequel, and it certainly has its moments; the sisters are fun to read, especially Winifred (Bette Midler’s character), who is as delightfully horrible as ever. It’s missing a bit of the light-heartedness that made the original such fun to watch, but its darker feel makes the humorous moments more welcome. The ending will leave readers wondering if we’re getting a third installment. It’s an additional add for fans of the original movie, and readers who enjoy a good spooky quest.

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

The Legend of Jack Riddle begins!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Legend of Jack Riddle, by H. Easson, (January 2018, Stone Arch Books), $26.65, ISBN: 9781496554086/(March. 2018, Capstone), $12.95, ISBN: 9781623709075

Recommended for ages 9-13

Twelve year-old Jack has to go visit his creepy great-great-great-whatever-aunt. She wears Doc Martens, a black ballgown, and wears a creepy top hat, calls him Jackie-poo, and sneaks out to play bingo. In the forest. Jack follows her, and discovers that Aunt Gee Gee may have some secrets. When the cookie jar she sends him back home brings forth a goblin that attacks the principal for a candy bar, Jack definitely gets the feeling that something’s up. The thing is, Jack’s in the middle of a very dangerous fairy tale: he’s the descendant of Gretel, and she’s nothing like the lost little girl in the fairy tale. She’s an awful witch that has Jack and his absent-minded teacher, Professor Ambrosius Footnote, racing to find a way to stop Gretel before there are very, very bad consequences for Jack and for future kids!

This is a fun take on fairy tale history, with cameos from some old favorites and a new point of view. Narrated from Jack’s point of view, there’s an interesting subplot about communication breakdown between parents and kids, and he tackles some fairy tale tropes (why can’t anyone just give a straight answer? What’s with all the riddles?) with laughs. The ending leaves the possibility of a sequel open. If you have fractured fairy tale readers, this is a good bet for their shelves and yours.

Posted in Preschool Reads

Bethan Wollvin’s Girl-Power Fairy Tales: Rapunzel

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Rapunzel, by Bethan Woollvin, (Oct. 2017, Peachtree Publishers), $16.95, ISBN: 978-1-68263-003-7

Recommended for readers 3-8

Last year, Bethan Woollvin gave readers Little Red; her spin on Little Red Riding Hood. Little Red didn’t need a huntsman to help her out; she had things handled. Woollvin’s newest tale, Rapunzel, gives us another heroine who can take care of herself.

The story starts out the same: kidnapped by a witch, living in a tower, the witch climbs up her hair, snips it to sell, and threatens her. But Rapunzel isn’t worried – she’s too smart for that. She starts figuring out that if the witch can use her hair to get in, Rapunzel can use her own hair to get out. We see her exploring the forest, reading a book called, “How to Defeat Witches”, and we just know this isn’t a princess that needs saving. Heck, no prince even shows up in this story. When the witch confronts Rapunzel after discovering she’s been out, the girl takes matters into her own hands. Literally. And that, my friends, is that: Rapunzel is free and becomes the bane of witches everywhere.

I  love Woollvin’s flipped fairy tales! The two-color art stands out; it’s dramatic and bright. Where Little Red was black and red, Rapunzel is, naturally, yellow and red. The endpapers give readers the short version of the story: the opening endpapers show a witch pursuing Rapunzel through the forest, and the closing endpapers show her masked, on a horse, with two witches hiding from her this time. The art is simple, fun, and gets to the point. Readers can make their own Rapunzels and witches (or Little Reds) with printables aplenty – hold a flipped fairy tale/girl power storytime and let your readers transform!

A great add to storytime collections and fairy tale bookshelves everywhere!

Posted in Fantasy, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Creepy historical fantasy: Fear the Drowning Deep

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

drowning-deepFear the Drowning Deep, by Sarah Glenn Marsh, (Oct. 2016, Sky Pony Press), $16.89, ISBN: 9781510703483

Recommended for ages 12+

Sixteen year-old Bridey Corkill has hated the ocean ever since she watched her grandfather drown himself, called by mysterious music that only he could hear. She was ridiculed for saying that the sea took her grandfather, so she’s learned to keep to herself, but things are changing in her Isle of Man village. A dead girl washes ashore, and so does a handsome young man, still alive but bleeding from something that attacked him in the water. Bridey calls him Fynn, because he claims no memory of anything that happened or who he is, and she finds herself falling for him. But things are getting worse when other girls start disappearing, and the town starts pointing their fingers at Fynn. Bridey – who’s now apprenticed to the village witch – knows there is something in the water that’s to blame, but no one wants to listen to her, except for the woman she’s apprenticed to; and she’s got secrets of her own. Can Bridey save everyone she loves from walking into the water and never returning?

Set in 1913, Fear the Drowning Deep is good, creepy historical fantasy. Setting the story on the Isle of Man in pre-World War I era Europe gives a true feeling of isolation, providing an almost claustrophobic mood as Bridey tries desperately to unlock the secrets of the water before it takes any more of her friends or family. Every single character in this book has depth and lends something to the narrative. The prose is beautiful; literary and fantastic all at once; the dreamlike haze she spins for the water’s victims almost lulls readers into a similar, comforting feeling before the author chills you with the revelation that someone has been taken. The relationship between Bridey and Fynn will please YA romance fans, and the pairing of Bridey and Morag, the village witch, is wonderful: atagonistic yet loving, strong and supportive. There’s intrigue, secrets, and revelations to be had all around, making this a solid dark fantasy/romance read for your teens. Pair this with Ananda Braxton-Smith’s Merrow for a pair of water-based mysteries with a touch of the paranormal.

 

 

Posted in Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Middle Grade

Oh No! The Lunch Witch is Knee Deep in Niceness!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

lunch-witchThe Lunch Witch #2: Knee-Deep in Niceness, by Deb Lucke, (Oct. 2016, Papercutz), $14.99, ISBN: 9781629915036

Recommended for ages 8-12

In this sequel to 2014’s Lunch Witch, Grunhilda is still pulling shenanigans at the school cafeteria – lately, she’s been putting chopped-up pink erasers into the ham and beans – but there’s a soft spot on that black and crusty heart of hers. She tries to hide it from her ancestors and her familiars: she gets a letter from Madison, the student she kinda sorta befriended in the first book, and keeps it hidden under her mattress. But Mr. Williams, her dog, knows something’s up, and finds the letter. Distressed, he talks the familiars into finding a cure: a meanness potion from the book that IS NOT TO BE USED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN WITCHES. What could go wrong, right? Right.

Mr. Williams mixes up a positivity potion, further illustrating why the spell book is NOT TO BE USED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN WITCHES. The positive vibes spread to the whole town; the ancestors are aghast, and Brunhilda has to fix things before her own black and crusty heart gives way to the shiny happy people business that’s running rampant.

The first Lunch Witch novel is still hugely popular – it’s still circulating here in my library, and kids are still asking for it by name. Wait until I put this one up. I love the rainbow beam, almost capturing Brunhilda in its happy rays on the cover. The interior art is still wonderfully bleak, in its blacks, browns, and washed out whites; the occasional splashes of color are fun and add effect (and humor, especially when Mr. Williams has to wee). Add this one to your graphic novel collections and give a copy to your Lunch Witch fans; they’ll lap it up.

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Teaching Lunch Witch in your classroom? There’s an Educator’s Guide on the Papercutz website – I hope they add one for the new book, but you can always expand on the first one by creating new vocabulary lists and creating some discussion questions about the new story. Visit The Lunch Witch’s website for “recipes”, character profiles, and a Bad Advice section.

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

New Legends of Orkney: Kalifus Rising

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

kalifusKalifus Rising (Legends of Orkney #2), by Alane Adams, (Sept. 2016, SparkPress), $24, ISBN: 9781943006052

Recommended for ages 9-14

In this sequel to 2014’s Red Sun, Sam Baron has freed Orkney from the Red Sun, but is now a prisoner of Catriona, leader of the Volgrim Witches. She’s determined to bend Sam to her will and use his half-god, half-witch power to mold him into the formidable force that will crush Odin and help her gain rule over Orkney and beyond. Fortunately, Sam’s not alone; his three best friends, Keeley, Howie, and Leo, find themselves drawn back into the fray to help save Sam. Each given their own quest, the three friends will learn more about themselves in this adventure.

Full disclosure: I didn’t read The Red Sun, and that’s to my detriment. While I could pick up the general gist of the story through exposition and dialogue that discusses previous events, I would have gotten more from Kalifus Rising if I’d read the first book (and now, it’s on my TBR).

This is a solid quest fantasy that your fantasy readers will love. I appreciated that it was a team effort to save Sam, and I love that each friend had a quest that taught them about themselves; some were given quests they didn’t feel cut out for, only to discover the inner strength to achieve the objective. It’s inspirational, which is the point of really good fantasy, isn’t it? The story concentrates on the importance and power of friendship: a key theme for middle graders; there are also great scenes where Sam reacts exactly like a tween/teen would when faced with a seemingly insurmountable task. He tries to convince Catriona that he’s moved over to her side, while relying on his inner strength to remind himself where he really stands, but as Sam – and by extension, the reader – learns, going it alone can be a tough and scary thing; the danger of losing yourself is real and having people around you to remind yourself of who you are is important. (And so is having a kick-butt mom, if I may say so, myself,)

Kalifus Rising debuted as the #1 hot new release on Amazon, so ride the wave and treat your fantasy readers to the Legends of Orkney series. Booktalk and display with Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Jasmine Richards’ Secrets of Valhalla, Keira Gillett’s Zaria Fierce trilogy, and K.L. Armstrong’s The Blackwell Pages series.

There’s a great Legends of Orkney webpage that includes a link to BattleKasters, a downloadable game based on the series! You want to see the trailer, right? Of course you want to see the trailer.

Posted in Fiction, Horror, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Skin crawling YA horror: The Women in the Walls, by Amy Lukavics

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

women-in-the-wallsThe Women in the Walls, by Amy Lukavics (Sept. 2016, Harlequin Teen), $18.99, ISBN: 9780373211944

Recommended for ages 13+

Lucy Acosta lives with her cousin, Margaret, her aunt, Penelope, and her father, Felix, in a Victorian mansion in the middle of the woods. Her mother died when she was three, leaving her to be raised by her loving aunt and distant father. When Lucy is 17, Penelope takes a walk into the woods and disappears, throwing the household into chaos. Margaret, Penelope’s daughter, is becoming unhinged, telling Lucy that she hears her dead mother talking to her through the walls, telling her to join her. Her father, obsessed with throwing dinner parties for the exclusive club he belongs to, ignores Lucy’s pleas for help; he won’t accept any sign of weakness. As Lucy tries to get to the bottom of the voices in the walls, she starts hearing them too; and when she begins digging into her family’s legacy, the things she find may doom her.

This was a gloriously creepy novel with just enough gore to move it from haunted house novel to horror. Think Wicker Man meets The Legacy (wow, did I just date myself with that reference), with wonderful madness tossed in, to make things interesting. Be warned, delicate sensibilities and stomachs may find some of the language and violence too much. This is not a book for your conservative readers.

Lucy and Margaret are fairy skin-deep characters with the potential for deeper storytelling, but it’s not really their story, as you’ll discover. The real development is going on around them. Think of Lucy as the narrator – which she is – and the host of the story. She’s the central character, but she’s in the dark almost as much as we readers are. The supporting characters are where the story lies, and when the elements all come together, this is a page-turning read. Horror and suspense fans will enjoy this one.