MMGM: The Little Grey Girl (The Wild Magic Trilogy #2) by Celine Kiernan

It's moving day for Mup Taylor, her mam, dad, and little brother Tipper now that the old queen, Mup's grandmother, and her band of raggedly witches have been defeated. Of course, the old queen and her raggedly entourage aren't dead, just gone - but for how long is anybody's guess. Now, though, it's off to the magical Witches Borough in the Glittering Land, leaving the mundane world behind, to live in the old queen's enormous castle. But no sooner do they arrive but there's trouble. Mam wants to run the Witches Borough as a democracy, but the people who sided with her instead of the old queen expect her to accept the crown and rule them, more kindly than her mother had, but still as a monarchy.

The castle is big and cold, and there are a number of ghosts living there as well a real people. Mup has her own room across from her best friend Crow's room. Crow is a shapeshifting boy who can transform into a raven. He has apparently lost his parents, but for all that he wants to be a part of a family like the Taylors, he also wants to be free. And he has difficulty dealing with Mup's raggedly witch magic. It is that kind of magic that been used to force the people of the Glittering Land into submission.

Even before she has settled into her new home, she notices a girl around her age lucking in the courtyard near the tunnel that leads to the dungeons where Mup and her dad had been kept by the old queen. The girl, who has a grey tint to her specter, turns out to be a ghost hellbent on causing vengeful trouble for the castle's new occupants, especially Mup. Using her own ashiness, the grey girl draws pictures around the castle which causes anyone who goes near them be come paralyzed with overwhelming grief. Is the grey girl part of the old queen's plan to defeat her daughter and return to power? It certainly seems so, especially when it begins to snow so heavily it isolated the people in the castle and feels like a curse from the old queen.

I loved reading Begone the Raggedly Witches and couldn't wait to read The Little Grey Girl. And boy howdy, I was not disappointed. Most of the story takes place in or around the castle grounds, including the dungeons under the castle, which makes sense since this book doesn't really continue the power tug of war between the old queen and her daughter. Forbidden to use magic under the old queen's oppressive rule, the residents of the Witches Borough are at a loss for who they are as a people now that they can use their innate magical abilities.

I was very happy to see that Kierman has kept all the characters true to who they were in the first book. Tipper, enjoying life in the shape of a dog, is just as adorable as ever, while Mup, mam, and dad are the same kind, concerned, and caring people and Mup's courage in confronting the dungeons to discover what is motiving the little grey girl to unleash so much suffering on the castle's residents is admirable. Crow is still a most conflicted character, not sure what he really wants, but always loyal to Mup, even when they have a falling out.

Once again, Kiernan has tackled familiar themes of strong family ties, true friendship, as well as the disastrous affects of oppression on people  individually and as a whole, themes that will resonant all too much with today's world.

Oh, yes, and the good news is that Book Three, The Promise Witch, is scheduled to be released in England on June 4, 2020, which gives everyone plenty of time to read, reread, and savor Begone the Raggedly Witches and The Little Grey Girl.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an EARC gratefully received from the publisher, Candlewick Press, and NetGalley.

Be sure to check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle. 

Begone the Raggedy Witches (The Wild Magic Trilogy #1) by Celine Kiernan

Aunty Boo had always been the one who protected Mup and her family from the evil raggedy witches by by trying to keep them safe in the mundane world. But no sooner does Aunty pass away, and a bunch of raggedy witches arrive at their home, with the intention of kidnapping Mup's Mam, Stella, and bringing her back across the border to her birthplace in the Witches Borough in the Glittering Land where Mup's tyrannical grandmother rules as Queen. With Aunty gone, the Queen is afraid that Mam will want to claim her right to the throne as the heir.

When Mam couldn't be forced to return with the raggedy witches, they kidnap Mup's father instead, who is on his way home from the oil rig he works on in the North Sea. Luckily, Aunty's spirit is still around when Mam, Mup, baby brother Tipper, and Badger, the old faithful family dog, set out to rescue Dad, held prisoner in the Witches Borough.

Once across the border, Mup and her mother are amazed at the powerful magic Mam suddenly seems to acquire. First, she transforms Tipper into a playful, talking puppy, then kidnaps a raven to prevent him from telling anyone about her crossing the border. The crow, nicknamed Crow by Mup, has been order to speak only in rhymes. But when Mup frees Crow, and he's captured by the raggedy witches, she learns he is really just a boy around her age. Soon, however, Mup is also quickly made aware of the dangers her family faces in the Witches Borough.

There's a lot going on here. The raggedy witches want to bring Mam back to their Queen, Mam's mother, to eliminate her as a rival the throne. The rebels living in the Witches Borough want Mam to stay and be their new queen. Crow wants to find his father and have a family just like Mup has. And Mup and Mam, well, now that their world has been turned upside down, they have to rethink who they are and what they want. All this makes for an exciting, action-packed novel that I personally couldn't put down.

The Witches Borough is a place where magic is no longer permitted by the Queen, where all rebels are required to speak in rhyme, and where men can only transform into ravens, and women into cats. But those who remember what it was like before the tyrannical Queen took over want to return to the time when magic was allowed and people could transform into whatever they wanted.

Mup, whose real name is Pearl, is Irish and Nigerian, a fact which (at least so far) has nothing to do with the story other than that is who she is. The story is told from her point of view, and readers will quickly find themselves enchanted by her. She is a kind, caring, rather quirky character, whose family is very important. I loved the anything-but-mundane outfit Mup chose for her excursion across the border from the mundane world to the glittering world - a pink tutu covered in spangles over a red wool dress, and her green frog wellies.

Begone the Raggedy Witches is the first book in The Wild Magic Trilogy by Irish author Celine Kiernan, but she is certainly no stranger to writing great fantasy. And while this may be fantasy, Kiernan address familiar and important themes of family, friendship, and be able to live an authentic life. If you love middle grade fantasy, this is a book for you.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

Worst Witch Strikes Again by Jill Murphy Review and Series Giveaway

It's summer term at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches and Mildred Hubble has been allowed to return despite her unfortunate first year there.  Mildred is dreading this summer term, knowing that all sorts of mishaps could happen again, given how prone she is to accidents and messing things up.  And now, she is bound by promises to do better after the terrible report her parents had received from the school.

This term, a new girl named Enid Nightshade has joined Miss Cackle's and she has given Mildred the responsibility of showing Enid around the school for the next few days.  Mildred's teacher Miss Hardbroom is stunned by this decision, thinking her favorite student goody-two-shoes Ethel Hallow should have been chosen.  Even Mildred is a little surprised and not too happy about Miss Cackle's decision.

Neither is Mildred's best friend Maud Moonshine.  When she asks Mildred to hand Enid over to another girl and Mildred refuses, Maud walks off in a jealous huff, even though both girls think that Enid looks to be a pretty boring girl.

Boring, that is, until the next morning when Mildred discovers that instead of the permitted cat, Enid has a monkey in her room.  And that is just the beginning of accident-prone Mildred's summer term of chasing a runaway monkey, trips to Miss Cackle's office and a performance that even surprises Mildred and Enid at the end of term assembly.  There's even a good lesson on friendship for Maud.

But the biggest lesson of all is to not judge a book by its cover or the new girl at school by the way she looks.

This is the second fun book in the Worst Witch series, perfect for young readers ready to tackle chapter books, and too young for Harry Potter.

In fact, it is so much fun, that I am holding a HALLOWEEN inspired Giveaway, in which one lucky winner will receive a complete set of The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy, books 1-6, courtesy of Candlewick Press.

The Rules of this Giveaway are pretty simple:

1- It will run from today until October 31, 2014 at 11:59 PM EDST
2- Follow Randomly Reading on Bloglovin'
3- Leave a comment related to The Worst Witch and a valid email address to reach you.
4- The winner has 48 hours to respond
5- This giveaway is open to residents of the United States and Canada
6- Allow a few weeks time for delivery.
7- Because your hostess is a certified dyslexic, and she has learned to keep things relatively simple,
    there will be one winner selected by Random.org

The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy

Mildred Hubble, 12, is a first year student at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches.  Though well-meaning and well liked by most of the other girls, Mildred always seems to be in trouble for something: "You could rely on Mildred to have her hat on back-to-front, or her bootlaces trailing along the floor.  She couldn't walk from one end of the corridor to the other without someone yelling at her, and nearly every night, she was writing lines or being kept in…(pg 3)  Mildred does have a best friend, Maud Moonshine, and a class enemy, Ethel Hallow.

This first book in the series begins with a very important event at Miss Cackle's Academy.  All the girls are about to receive their black kittens, an exciting tradition for first year students, and the girls are expected to train their kittens to sit on their broomsticks.  Mildred is the last to receive her kitten, but by then they have run out of black kitties and she receives a tabby instead.  

Naturally, Tabby is hard to train and Miss Hardbroom gives Mildred a hard time about it.  Ethel, overhearing this, can't resist saying something to Mildred, who gets mad and turns Ethel into a pig.  Turned back to a girl by Miss Hardbroom, Ethel tells Mildred she will be sorry for what she did.

Sure enough, a Halloween program is planned and Mildred's class is to present a program showing what they can do with their broomsticks.  But the day before Halloween, Miss Hardbroom notices that Mildred's broom is held together by scotch tape and tells Ethel to lend her her spare broom.  Ethel willingly does this, but not before she puts a spell on the broom.

The presentation is ruined by Mildred's wonky broom and Miss Cackle is beside herself.  That night, Mildred decides to take Tabby and run away.  She doesn't get far before she runs into a group of witches in the forest surround the school, and one of whom looks just like Miss Cackle.  Keeping out of sight, Mildred hears their plan to take over Miss Cackle's Academy.  

Mildred can't let that happen, but what to do?  Everyone is still so mad at her.

   

I first became aware of Mildred and Miss Cackle's Academy when my Kiddo was young.  The British TV show was one of our cable stations and my Kiddo was hooked immediately.  So, we found some second hand copies of the books and she read (devoured) them all.  The TV show pretty much stuck to the stories in the books, which for a young reader is nice.

The Worst Witch is being reprinted now, forty years after it first appeared in 1974 and I was curious to read it again, to see if it still holds up in the age of Harry Potter.  And, I am pleased to say it does.  It's also a British book, but aside from Miss Hardbroom being a form teacher, I don't think anything in the book will be confusing to American readers.  I am also happy to say that the original black and white illustrations done by author Jill Murphy that occur throughout the book, have been included, adding to the readers enjoyment of the story 

What is nice about The Worst Witch is that Mildred's woes are not so terrible, there is no dark lord to scare young readers, she is and remains just a nice girl and she always manages to unwittingly save the day.

The Worst Witch series are wonderfully fun chapter books for girls (I don't think boys would really be interested in it) who are chomping on the bit to read Harry Potter but are just not ready for it for whatever reason.

This book is recommended for readers age 7+

This book was an E-ARC received from NetGalley