Today I have a giveaway for you – The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams. Abbie is a fifth grader who also happens to be a witch. In fact, her whole family has magical powers. And Abbie’s certainly got her hands full. She’s got to look out for her often troublesome little brother, keep her secret from her best friend, learn to manage her school work, keep herself out of magical trouble and then, oh yeah, there’s this adorable little black kitten living at her house who’s actually an enchanted boy! But things really start to get tricky once Abbie discovers the boy’s true identity.
The book is written in a very conversational tween speak tone. I think young girls will find this really appealing. There’s even a little mention of Hogwarts slipped in which should also draw in Harry Potter fans. Overall, the vocabulary is pretty challenging and Abbie herself acknowledges it: readers are told to look up penchant (“I had to” admonishes Abbie); a drama teacher who is throwing around words like thespian, ascertained and amply prompts Abbie to tell us, “I’ve never heard her use a ten-cent word when a five-dollar one would do.” Parents will like that Abbie manages to throw some nuggets of historical information at the reader as well. Also, despite the tween tone, Abbie’s really close with her mom and dad, which is a great thing to see in a book.
So how can you get a copy for your witchy ones? Leave me a comment about your favorite book featuring witches or wizards or a comment about who you’d like to win this for. Make sure to include a way for me to get in touch with you! I’ll choose the winner by a random number generator. The contest is open until midnight Friday, October 29th EST. And I’m so sorry but at this point I can only ship within the USA. Good luck!
Sex, Nudity, Dating – There is a mention of how Benjamin Franklin likes to impress the ladies. Abbie’s Aunt Sophie appears in a gown that showed “kind of a lot of skin” which then makes a teenage boy’s eyes nearly pop out of his head. Aunt Sophie zaps Abbie’s mom into a dress that shows “kind of a lot” of her chest, so Abbie’s mom zaps it back as soon as she notices.
Profanity – “darn” used several times, “stupid,” “heck,” and Abbie tells us that a man uses “some words that I know my mother would rather I had never even heard.”
Death, Violence and Gore – Munch tries to eat his teacher when he’s morphing into a wolf. Abbie feels like kicking her brother. We learn that a boy from the olden days was “thrashed” by his father. The possibility that the little cat would have been given to a shelter and subsequently put to sleep is raised, but only very briefly. There is some biting. Two brothers pound each other. An evil man sets witch booby traps and causes an older witch to collapse and Abbie’s father to bleed.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – In a play of Alice in Wonderland the caterpillar smokes.
Frightening or Intense Things – While there’s a definite villain, there’s nothing scary here.
While I’d like to say that I’d love to win this for when the baby is older, the reality is, I think I’d really like it. What does it say about me that I’d rather read ‘tween books than adult ones??? Wait, don’t answer that.
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I’d like to win this for my niece. She’s not read Harry Potter yet, but she is enjoying The Hobbit.
Of course, I’ll probably read it before giving it to her so we can talk about it–and because it sounds like a fun read.
I’d like to win for all of the reasons I erroneously posted to the other page. 🙂
I’d also like to add that the girl pictured looks an awful lot like I think my daughter will when she’s older. That’s what drew me into the post in the first place.
Perpetual winner I! Shamefacedly, I want to win this book for myself, because it sounds like a lot of fun. Is that bad? But after I finish it, I’m going to give it to the sister of one of my son’s school friends, who is 11 and has a great sense of humor.
My favorite witch book is The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. It might be a little closer to YA than children’s, mostly because it can be intense and the vocabulary is tricky, but it’s SO funny and exciting, and if you haven’t read it, you really should.