Kyana Turner finds out, at 11 years old, that she is a witch. Her mother tells her that she has to attend magic school. Unfortunately, the first session at this school is the upcoming Saturday, which is also the date of her best friend’s birthday party. Kyana has also been told that she is not to tell anyone about being a witch, even her best friend Naomi, Nae, as she most fondly calls her. Kyana is forced to lie to her friend for the first time, which causes problems in their relationship. Throughout the book, Kyana attempts to master spells and juggle her social life between Naomi and her new friends at the magic school. Kyana comes to learn that her memaw, who lives with her, is also a witch. She has been baking with her memaw and learning brilliant recipes that get Kyana out of a scrape with the magic community. She makes mistakes, gets into trouble and with determination, fixes things on her own terms. She learns valuable lessons of social commitment, and learns to embrace who she is.

Middle school readers (8-11 year-olds)

The lessons about friendships and family that Kyana learns.

Read book 2, A Whisper of Curses

Delighted. I was reading over the Christmas break, while I was away from home. I’m glad this is the book I chose to read.

The author impressed me with her skills as a writer of young readers novels. She captured my interest in Kyana’s personal and social issues, and skillfully scripted how she solved her problems and made things right with her friends, her school and her community.

This book is a delight to read. It is a complete story on its own with no cliff-hanger leading to the second book.

I bought this book as a Christmas gift for my granddaughter. I bought 2 copies, so she can give one to a girl she sits with on the school bus (they read and discuss books together). I hope they both enjoy reading it as much as I did.

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Created Jan 05, 2025 at 4:45pm • Submit your own review...