A Spell to Wake the Dead by Nicole Lesperance - OPTIONAL

A Spell to Wake the Dead by Nicole Lesperance, 352 pages. G.P. Putnam's Sons BFYR (Penguin), 2025. $20

Language: R (56 swears, 5 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG-13 (kissing, vaping and drinking mentioned); Violence: PG-13 (gunshot, dead bodies found with missing hands)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

17yo Mazzy and Nora love to learn about harmless spells, especially living in New England. Their idea of spells being fun changes when they find a dead body with missing hands after casting a simple spell and Nora starts to feel the spirit taking over her mind. Nora starts changing and gets more and more interested in and pulled into the dark side of magic which seems to involve the body they found. More bodies are discovered with missing hands and Polaroid pictures of the victims when they’re alive are being left for Nora and Mazzy in random places. The friends want to solve the mystery and help the police but they’re being threatened and pulled into danger.

I like how the author sets up for the supernatural setting of the book. Tough issues are brought up with some of the side characters and I like how the characters help each other deal with them. The underlying cause of the magic, the Egyptian cult, added an extra element of creepiness to the story. A fun and spooky YA read! The ethnicity reads white.

LynnDell Watson, DHS Librarian, Delta, Utah

Give Me Something Good to Eat by D. W. Gillespie - ADVISABLE

Give Me Something Good to Eat by D. W. Gillespie, 259 pages. Delacorte (Random House), 2024. $18

Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (kidnappings) ; Violence: PG (many dastardly creatures and some fighting)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

7th grader Mason knows there is something wrong with his town, Pearl - ever since his best friend, Marco, went missing on Halloween.  Mason remembers Marco, but no one else, not even Marco’s parents does. This Halloween Mason is determined to figure out what is going on, but his parents have saddled him with taking his younger sister Meg out with him.  Mason is mad that Meg is cramping his style until the moment he realizes that Meg is this year’s victim - how could he be so careless! Mason is determined to rescue Meg and find out the truth about the yearly Halloween-related disappearances, even if he has to find his way into the flip side of Pearl - an underworld ruled by an evil witch who uses the disappeared in a dastardly scheme.

Gillespie’s story is the right amount of dark and disturbing, with hope and sibling determination combined. What the witch does with the souls of the disappeared is downright creepy, but is nicely set off with Mason and his friends' heroics.  I prefer my horror with a positive ending.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Practical Rules for Cursed Witches by Kayla Cottingham - OPTIONAL

Practical Rules for Cursed Witches by Kayla Cottingham, 432 pages. Delacorte (Random House), 2024. $20. 

Language: R (83 swears 10 'f'); Mature Content: PG13 (kissing, some violent kissing, intimacy on bed sans clothing); Violence: PG (monsters, battles, hunting) 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

17yo Delilah is an untested witch. Her family has been cursed for generations and Delilah wants to try to break the curse. So when the Witch's Council come to assign Delilah, before she can propose her calling, 17yo Kieran interrupts and invokes "The Rite of Mortality" asking that Delilah's calling be to break HIS family curse. Thus starts a quest, avoiding city guards tasked with capturing them, discovering many curses, and trying to break a centuries old curse put on the Pelumbra family. 

A marvelous quest, with lots of interesting sub characters, some only in the story for a chapter or two. The setting is steam punk, as they are traveling in an airship. I liked that witches were both male and female, and that the society was OK with same sex attraction. The romances are sweet. There's lots of action and danger, and the manifestations of all the different curses and magics is great. 

Delilah, Keiran and Briar are white, as well as LGBTQ+. 

Lisa Librarian 

Ivy Newt and the Storm Witch by Derek Keilty and Magda Brol - ADVISABLE

Ivy Newt and the Storm Witch by Derek Keilty and Magda Brol, 165 pages. CHAPTER BOOK. Scallywag Press (Lerner), 2025. $18

Content: G (mild danger)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SOME

On Ivy Newt’s birthday, her King and Queen parents vanish in a violent flash. Unsure what to do, Ivy and her familiar Tom Wolf venture out in search of clues. Along the way they find a new friend whose father has also disappeared.  Together the trio may be able to solve the mystery. 

Welcome to the magic kingdom of Miracula.  Highly illustrated, the book is a quick read for a newly independent reader. Ivy Newt’s age is unspecified, but probably 8-10yo. 

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

The Grimsbane Family Witch Hunters by Joan Reardon - OPTIONAL

The Grimsbane Family Witch Hunters by Joan Reardon, 321 pages. Simon and Schuster, 29024. $18.

Content: PG (mild scares)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

Anna Grimsbane is eager to join the family business of hunting witches.  Well, the women in their family hunt witches - the men are considered to be frail and prone to death all because of a curse placed on them generations earlier. When her twin, Billy, disappears the night before their 13th birthday, she knows he has gone into the forest to find the witch responsible for the curse in order to break it himself.  Anna wants to gather her best friends to help her find him.  What she doesn’t know is that each friend has an ulterior motive for joining the search.

Anna and her friends are chaotic at best as they roam the forest looking for Billy.  I liked the cast of characters they encountered along the way more than I liked the children. I also liked the needed resolution for the curse very much.  I am just not certain that many readers will persist through the friend drama.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

The School for Wicked Witches by Will Taylor, - ADVISABLE

The School for Wicked Witches by Will Taylor, 256 pages. Scholastic, 2024. $8 (paperback). 

Language: G (0 swears, 0  “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: G (mild magic danger)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

10yo Ava has shown a spark of magic, so off she goes to the West Oz Witch Academy - where her demonstration goes terribly wrong.  Next thing she has been branded wicked and sent off to School for Wicked Witches! There she becomes so busy finding a way to escape, that she doesn’t notice that maybe the school isn’t so bad after all.  She is busy in pursuit of a dream - whether it is in her best interest or not.

Forget any connection to Oz - enjoy Ava’s story for what it is - a good witchy story that hopefully will have a sequel.  I forgot Ava was only ten until I was writing the review - I don’t think most students will notice either. 

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine - OPTIONAL

Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine. 288 pages. Penguin, 2024 $15 

Language: R (75 swears, 0 f') Mature Content: PG (kissing) Violence: PG-13 (bloody deaths) 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: MANY 

16yo Olivia is curious about who her biological father is after she finds out her parents have been keeping secrets from her. 16yo Reagan continues to move with her mother who is a suspect in the Camp Lost Lake murders of 2008. Olivia and Reagan both end up at Camp Lost Lake looking for answers and meet by accident. Little do they know that they’re walking into another murdering rampage as the Witch of Camp Lost Lake returns. They will get answers but will they survive? 

Creepy, twisty, mysterious fun! I couldn’t put the book down after chapter 5! The ending was intense and a shocker and left me wanting more to read! "The ethnicity is predominantly white and Jack is Asian. Hazel is a Jewish Jamaican. Sawyer has tan skin.

LynnDell Watson, DHS Librarian

Spell of a Time by Sophie Escabasse - OPTIONAL

Spell of a Time (Witches of Brooklyn Book 4) by Sophie Escabasse, 220 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL, Middle Grade RH Graphic Random House, 2023. $22 

Language: G (0 swears) Mature Content: G Violence: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

Effie just turned 12yo, which means she needs to see a seer to see what kind of magic she has as a witch. She discovers not only her magic, but that a mermaid is missing. Effie and her friend, Garance, set off on a time travel adventure to rescue the mermaid with the help of a turtle and some talkative seagulls. 

Effie's aunts are super funky, and it's nice to see adults as an integral part of YA fiction. The plot was fairly simplistic, but the art is well done. If you've always wanted to be a witch and have magical powers, this could be your book. Effie appears to be Asian and Garance appears to be black. 

Michelle in the Middle 

Mabuhay! by Zachary Sterling - ADVISABLE

Mabuhay! by Zachary Sterling, 240 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL Graphix (Scholastic), 2023 $25.

Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (fighting monsters, witches). 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

JJ and Althea are Filipino Americans, their parents are immigrants and run a Filipino food truck. JJ struggles to fit in, while his sister Althea would rather be herself than fit in. They both hate working on the food truck - and when the truck is hired to cater an end of year party, thrown by the most popular girl (who is also JJs crush) the kids are horrified. But when their uncle shows up from the Philippines with news that the family is in danger, the kids find out that their mother is a powerful witch, and saving the world might have just fallen into their hands. 

The magical realism - the monster fighting side-story was a total surprise. It suddenly made Mabuhay! very exciting and dramatic - Lightning Thief lovers would find this a fun graphic novel. I liked the realistic representation of trying to negotiate school when your lunch smells different and your friends don't understand your culture. Full-color illustrations and great character representations (both in the story arc and pictures) draw the reader in, while the cultural foods, mythology, and the occasional Filipino phrase - defined on page - are a great mirror for those kids. 

 Lisa Librarian

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli - OPTIONAL

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli, 416 pages. St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books, 2024. $15 

Language: R (25 swears  8 'f'); Mature Content: R (on-page sex); Violence: R (bloody deaths) 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

18yo Rune lost her only family to witch hunters two years earlier when Nan told Rune to betray her. Nan was a witch who knew her time was up and she wanted to save Rune. Nan made Rune promise to turn her into the witch hunters and denounce everything she grew up knowing and loving. After Nan’s capture and death, Rune became the Crimson Moth; a vigilante who rescues witches and helps get them to freedom. Rune attends social events to discover the witches who are next in line to be captured, so she can swoop in and save them. Her disguise seems to be working but one guard suspects her and will do everything he can to catch her.

I enjoyed the mystery and the reveals. The world building was done well. The danger makes the story even more interesting. The ethnicity consists of mostly white, with ocher and golden skin tones mentioned. 

LynnDell Watson, DHS Librarian

The Bewitching Hour by Ashley Poston - OPTIONAL

The Bewitching Hour by Ashley Poston, 341 pages. Hyperion (Disney), 2023. $19.

Language: R (50+ swears, 3 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG-13 (burned at stake described some; pierced skull)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

17yo Tara and her family have packed up and moved to Hellbourne, Vermont.  Yeah (not) - new high school! Kids are dying around school - and even though Tara wasn’t there when it started, she has become the scapegoat.  Unfair - all she wants to do is keep her head down and survive. Hellbourne’s problem dates all the back to the town’s first witch-burning and Tara will need a lot of help to stay alive, especially because not only is her magic glitching, but her father has forbidden her to use it. 

As much as I like a good Buffy prequel or retelling, I haven’t seen any interest in my students. Very appealing for Buffy fans, though.

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS

Hocus Pocus by A.W. Jantha and Gris Grimly - ADVISABLE

 Hocus Pocus by A.W. Jantha, illustrated by Gris Grimly, 231 pages. Disney Press, 2022. $25. 9781368076685 

Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (danger and witchcraft) 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

When the Sanderson Sisters were hanged in 1693 for witchcraft, they swore that they would return. Then 16yo Max lights their candle on Halloween in 1993 and awakens the sisters, who wreak havoc on the unsuspecting Salem. Max, his little sister Dani, and the babysitter, Allison, are the only ones standing in their way – with a lot of help from Binx – the soul of a boy from 1693 caught within a body of a cat. 

Gris Grimly’s illustrated version echoes the movie without trying to match it. The text is Jantha’s original novelization – fun to read and reminiscent of the movie with skillfully added details. 

Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS 

Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier - ESSENTIAL

Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier, 367 pages. Harper, 2018. $10 (paperback) 

Language: PG-13 (35 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (possession, fighting) 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

16yo Elodie is happy to leave her abusive stepfather behind, but bereft at leaving her mother and half-siblings. But she has had an offer to work at Black Oak cottage outside a far off village. The journey has its own dangers, but what awaits her is even more so – Aleida is the latest of the Blackbone witches. She has just defeated her evil mentor and is hurt. Elodie tries her best to nurse Aleida back to health, befriending a nearby farm family and a mysterious boy who lives in the forest around the cottage and village. But just because the evil Gyssha is dead, doesn’t mean she won’t keep trying to possess whomever she needs in order to live again. And while Aleisha doesn’t want to be as evil as Gyssha, doesn’t mean that she will be beloved by the normal humans around her. 

I let this one sit for too long until I finally read it – there is a second book out and I am looking forward to reading it too. It is no more “witchy” than Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson. A good fight between good and evil - but also a fight with the possible evil inside us.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS 

Manu by Kelly Fernandez - ADVISABLE

Manu by Kelly Fernandez, 192 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL. Graphix (Scholastic). 2021. $13. 

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content PG; Violence: PG 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL - AVERAGE 

Manu is taken in by nuns as a baby. The nuns run a school of magic for girls, who are witchlings. Manu’s magic is pretty powerful and the headmistress believes she has the potential to help other people with it, though Manu would rather use it for pranks. When one prank goes bad, Manu’s best friend, Josefina wishes for Manu’s magic to disappear. Manu uses a dangerous spell to bring it back, but the spell brings back more than just the magic she bargained for. 

 The author draws from her Dominican Republic background and weaves Spanish words and culture into Manu’s story that makes this appealing. There are instances of demonic possession and Manu and Josephina are attracted to each other. There is a wide-open door for another book as Manu struggles to find who she really is and how she fits in. 

 Michelle in the Middle 

Broken Wish (The Mirror #1) by Julie C. Dao - OPTIONAL

Broken Wish (The Mirror #1) by Julie C. Dao, 311 pages. Hyperion (Disney), 2020. $19. 

Language: PG (3 swears, 0 Fs); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - OPTIONAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

16yo Elva is a farm girl who sees visions of things that always come true. She doesn’t know why it happens or what it means, but she does know it’s not something she should talk about. She’s grown up with talk of a family curse and wonders if she has something to do with that curse. Then one day, she finds some old letters between her mother and a mysterious woman named Mathilda who seems to have a history with her family. Desperate to find answers, Elva seeks out Mathilda in her hidden cottage in the woods looking for insight into why she’s so different. Mathilda reveals to Elva that she’s a witch and her visions are evidence of her magical powers. Mathilda agrees to teach her how to use her powers, but warns her of the danger of misusing them. When things start to fall apart for Elva, she tries to use her powers to alter the past, with terrible consequences. 

This book was okay overall and I think it’s fine for younger readers. The characters are compelling and the story is interesting. There’s a little bit of romance, some mystery, and an element of danger, all of which make it a good enough book. It’s a little bit predictable and formulaic at times, but I don’t think younger readers would notice or care. What I didn’t like was the moralizing message that felt overly preachy. Elva wants to help Mathilda find acceptance from the wider society and goes on a long diatribe to her family about how important it is for people to be who they are and for everyone to accept each other, no matter what. It’s a good message, but it felt clumsy and contrived. It turned me off to the rest of the story. The ratings are for a few uses of god and some danger and mortal peril. 

 Reviewer: Andrea R 

Cinders and Sparrows by Stefan Bachmann - ADVISABLE

Cinders and Sparrows by Stefan Bachmann, 368 pages. Greenwillow (Harper), OCT 2020. $17

Content: G (mild danger)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

At 13yo, Zita has lived a long life of drudgery as an orphaned housemaid. Then comes the day she receives a fantastical letter – a letter that identifies her as the heir to the manor and fortune of the Brydgeborn family. The magical Brydgeborn family.  Zita undertakes the journey alone and finds an almost empty manor, populated by only the two young workers and the cantankerous Mrs. Cantaker. While Zita struggles to harness and use the magical part of her legacy, she begins to realized that she is being manipulated. Dark forces are waiting for Zota to set them free, How can Zita find the courage and the learning to forge her own path?

Though the tone and tenor of the book are dark and foreboding, it is not excessive. For readers who enjoy the Pennyroyal Academy books by Larson or Birdie Bloom’s book by Beltz.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS

These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling - HIGH

These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling, 336 pages. Razorbill (Penguin), 2020. $10

Language: R (100+ swears, 11 “f”); Mature Content: PG-13 (pagan rituals, drinking, drugs, makeouts); Violence: PG-13 (kidnapping, burn at stake)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Hannah’s heart is still barely surviving her break-up with Veronica, a fellow Elemental witch. As witches in Salem. Massachusetts, of all places, the girls know that they are supposed to be very careful about using their magic in public.  But a burning pentagram at a pre-graduation bonfire, and an even bigger fire that threatens a good friend’s life means that someone has seen one of them using their magic. And though it might be a blood witch, it might also mean that the Witchhunters might not have left Salem after the witch trials – they may have been playing an even longer game than anyone in the coven could believe.

While this is the first book in the series, the action of the breakup took place before the main action starts and sometimes when the girls refer to it, I feel as if I missed an earlier book.  Beyond that, however, Hannah’s story is nice and tight.  As an adult, I may have been annoyed by the girl’s cavalier use of their magic after 100’s of years of the coven successfully hiding, but for a teen reader, it is all very tense and taut and thrilling.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS

Eva Evergreen: Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe - ESSENTIAL

Eva Evergreen: Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe, 382 pages. Little Brown, AUGUST 2020. $17

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL – ESSENTIAL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Eva Evergreen has just one month to prove that she is worthy of becoming a Novice Witch.  Her powers are small and using them exhausts her.  The town she arrives at, Auteri, doesn’t seem to want her – the Mayor’s reception is much more than cool. And her apprentice challenge seems to be unsurpassable – prepare the town to weather The Culling – a mysterious force that has been sending deathly weather aimed to destroy towns all over Rivelle Realm. With only a few kind souls to support her, Eva will need every ounce of her magic and every encouraging word to prepare herself and her new town.

I think this is a perfect book for a nighttime read aloud with children. Eva’s challenges are not as action-packed or dangerous as some of the more popular fantasy books, but her story is steady and interesting and kept me coming back to finish the story.  And, as there is set –up for a second book, I am very much looking forward to continue.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS

Witchlight by Jessi Zabarsky - OPTIONAL

Witchlight by Jessi Zabarsky, 208 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL RH Graphic, 2020. $17.

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

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - OPTIONAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Lelek is a witch, Sanja is a peasant - but Sanja is pretty good with a sword, and when Lelek's powers aren't enough she kidnaps Sanja to make her teach her swordplay, but as they travel together (looking for Lelek's lost powers) the two become friends and partners.

Zaborsky's graphic novel is a good story about finding oneself, looking out for each other and accepting who you are. I feel like I could have used a lot more context, though, the pace was quick with lots of characters, I needed more background or connections.

Lisa Librarian

The Midwinter Witch by Molly Knox Ostertag - ADVISABLE

The Midwinter Witch (Book #3) by Molly Knox Ostertag, 208 pages. Scholastic, 2019 $13  

Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

This third book in the series has the main characters from book 1 and book 2 each facing their own challenges. Aster is a rare male witch. The family midwinter festival is coming up and he wants to prove himself and to be a good example to younger family members who might be different and hiding it. He can do this if he wins a contest called the jolrun tournament. In the meantime Ariel, his adopted sister, is struggling to fit in with the family and she feels like an outsider. When a blood family member of hers reaches out through the dream world, Ariel is tempted to make the connection. 

Fans of the series will be eager to see the latest adventure of the two characters they have bonded with from the earlier books. I reviewed the first book but have not read the second so it was a bit confusing. With the themes of friendship, family, self-acceptance, and standing up for yourself this book is it good read to having your library. Upper elementary we'll enjoy reading this series. The artwork was just ok in the uncorrected proof but could be very fun with final color. 

Reviewer: Stephanie MLS