Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan - ADVISABLE

Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan 270 pages. Candlewick Press, 2018 $15.99.

Language: PG (6 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG. 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL , MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

On the night Mup's aunty dies, everything changes. A bunch of Raggedy Witches follow her and her mother home from the hospital. With no Aunty to protect them - even though she's hanging around as a ghost, strange things happen, like Mup's father disappears on his way home from work. The witches are certainly involved because Mup's mother is heir to the witch throne and they are trying to lure her back to that world. So, Mam bundles up Mup and Tipper (her baby brother) and they return to Witches Burrough to find dad and save the people from the tyrant queen (Mup's grandmother). 

Keirnan has created a great world - people can change into animals, magic is a group effort and it's hard to know who are the good guys and who to beware of. The action is exciting without getting too violent, it's a wonderful adventure with the children doing most of the on-page activity. Perfectly appropriate for upper elementary, middle school students will enjoy this as well. 

Lisa Librarian

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