Okay, I know I've been on a bit of a middle grade novel recommendation bender, but when I read a good book I just can't help but share it and for whatever reason I've been most drawn to the middle grade novels on my to-read list lately. So here we go...
The last two books I recommended had a few things in common. This one is different. Though our main character is similarly aged at 12 years old, the storyline, tone and writing style are very different from Wonder and Counting By 7s. But once again, I loved this book!
A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd is a novel about a love of words (and I love words) and finding your home. 12 year old Felicity Pickle (I want to change my name to Felicity Pickle.) is a word collector. She sees words everywhere-- in bubbles over people's heads or as birds on their shoulders, dripping down windows with raindrops, and in the stained glass of church windows. She catches and saves as many words as she can by writing them in her special blue book (or on her tennis shoes or her hands), and sometimes she spins them into funny little poems for her little sister, Frannie Jo.
Felicity has traveled the country and had lots of adventures and she's happy to have shared it all with her mom and her sister. But Felicity longs to settle her mother's wandering heart and put down roots in her mom's home town of Midnight Gulch, Tennessee. Midnight Gulch used to be a magical place filled with magical people who could sing up thunderstorms and dance up sunflowers, but that was before a long ago curse drove much of the magic away. Now Felicity, with the help of her new friends, must figure out how to break the curse and bring the magic back to Midnight Gulch and mend her mother's broken heart.
What I love about this book is its playfulness and its love of language and its sweet, quirky characters. Its story is heartwarming and uplifting and, for me, it was a ray of sunshine in my own cold and cloudy February world. It made me want to lay in the grass on a sunny, summer day beneath a shady tree listening to the birds and watching the clouds roll by. It also made me want to find ways to do nice things for other people (read the book and you'll see why).
If you're looking for a light-hearted, fanciful and fun read that is appropriate for all ages, check out A Snicker of Magic. I think you'll be glad you did.
Until next time, happy reading.
P.S. Since we last talked, I also read Four by Divergent trilogy author, Veronica Roth. I liked getting another perspective on a familiar story and characters. I just wish there had been more to it. Still fun, if you've read the trilogy. Onward!
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