Fourteen year old Mona is a baker but she is also a not-very-powerful wizard - her medium of choice is dough. She can make pastries dance and bread light and fluffy - nothing extreme or dangerous. But when someone starts killing off all the wizards her minor wizard status doesn't matter and she has to run or be killed. But the people killing off the wizards have to be stopped and Mona doesn't let her lowly abilities stop her - a wizard's got to do what a wizard's got to do.
Such a clever, funny, amazing story.
Fourteen year old Mona is a baker but she is also a not-very-powerful wizard - her medium of choice is dough. She can make pastries dance and bread light and fluffy - nothing extreme or dangerous. But when someone starts killing off all the wizards her minor wizard status doesn't matter and she has to run or be killed. But the people killing off the wizards have to be stopped and Mona doesn't let her lowly abilities stop her - a wizard's got to do what a wizard's got to do.
The young teenage baker and bread wizard Mona finds herself in a series of events that spiral out of control in a swirl of politics and war.
As far as YA books this is pretty cute and decent. It has an interesting take on magic, and the main characters were compelling. There was a bit of a lean into toilet humor at points that was kind of eye-roll worthy, but overall, pretty enjoyable.
With an immortal carnivorous sourdough starter named Bob (who may or may not count as a familiar).
In case that's not enough to convince you:
Teenage assistant baker Mona's only magic talent is with bread. She can make it staler or fresher, keep it from burning, make gingerbread men dance, and occasionally something more dramatic like Bob. (Bob was an accident, but he's quite handy around the bakery.) She wasn't prepared to be suspect number one in a rash of wizard murders, live on the run, or to protect the city from a threat as its only remaining mage.
Fun characters, fun concepts, and a quest that runs through the city's worst slums to the palace. Mona has to navigate both from her comfortable shopkeeper's life, learning what happens when the system she relied on to protect her is turned against her. And how the system can …
With an immortal carnivorous sourdough starter named Bob (who may or may not count as a familiar).
In case that's not enough to convince you:
Teenage assistant baker Mona's only magic talent is with bread. She can make it staler or fresher, keep it from burning, make gingerbread men dance, and occasionally something more dramatic like Bob. (Bob was an accident, but he's quite handy around the bakery.) She wasn't prepared to be suspect number one in a rash of wizard murders, live on the run, or to protect the city from a threat as its only remaining mage.
Fun characters, fun concepts, and a quest that runs through the city's worst slums to the palace. Mona has to navigate both from her comfortable shopkeeper's life, learning what happens when the system she relied on to protect her is turned against her. And how the system can be manipulated against itself. She makes mistakes in the process -- sometimes annoying mistakes, but the kind that makes sense for a teenager to make.
Also: Lots of creative uses of very specific magic abilities. One mage can only work with water...but they can use it to make two surfaces vibrate in sync to transmit sound. Another can only work with air...but is able to use smell and gases to strong effect. Another can only reanimate dead horses.
My 12-year-old son loved it, so of course I had to read it too. Definitely recommended!
A YA book with more murder than one might expect, and an awful lot of allegory. Wizards look just like normal people, but someone in power wants them all registered and blames them for the ills in society.
I think I would have found the plot too heavy-handed (not really been into YA since I was one) if not for the author's yet-again delightful whimsy. This is narrated by the protagonist, who is a baker, and so all metaphors and the like are baking related. Everything has the colour of honey, the consistency of dough, or the smell of almonds. The actual enchanted gingerbread men and sourdough starter are the icing on the cake.
No, I am not sorry.
A YA book with more murder than one might expect, and an awful lot of allegory. Wizards look just like normal people, but someone in power wants them all registered and blames them for the ills in society.
I think I would have found the plot too heavy-handed (not really been into YA since I was one) if not for the author's yet-again delightful whimsy. This is narrated by the protagonist, who is a baker, and so all metaphors and the like are baking related. Everything has the colour of honey, the consistency of dough, or the smell of almonds. The actual enchanted gingerbread men and sourdough starter are the icing on the cake.
