The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell

Sprites and snowcats and bears...oh my!  Cressida Cowell has created a middle grade fantasy that is very entertaining, provides a character lesson or two and has some spooky illustrations to boot.

We meet budding wizard Xar in the Badwoods on his way to capture a witch. He has a talking raven called Caliburn  assigned to him.  Caliburn serves almost like a Jiminy Cricket figure to Xar, constantly trying to keep Xar out of trouble, a thankless task to be sure.

By pure coincidence he meets Wish, daughter of Queen Sycorax of the warriors. Wizards and warriors have been sworn enemies for generations so at once the two young'uns have a disagreement. Wish's bodyguard Bodkin, himself only a child, tries valiantly to defend the young, quirky princess but with little success. Thus begins a wild adventure involving enchanters, giants, sprites and other magic beings.

Both characters are thirteen and Cowell does a masterful job of showing how they are coming into their own and coming into conflict with their respective parents while simultaneously struggling to measure up to their older siblings. Xar's older brother Looter is especially mean to him.

Much of the marketing of this book talks about the fact that Cowell is the author of the immensely popular How to Train your Dragon series but this book is good enough to stand on its own. Kids aged 9+ will enjoy this tale.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

I try not to review authors more than once but every so often a book comes across my path that is so intense, so good and so gripping that I bend that rule. I had reviewed another of Kelly Barnhill's works, The Witch's Boy, here and her latest The Girl who Drank the Moon is the subject of this review.

As you may have heard this novel has won the 2017 John Newbery Medal (awarded by the Association of Library Service to Children to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children) and with good cause. Barnhill has created a world that speaks to the reader on many levels.

There is a witch who steals babies and a young boy determines to find the witch and kill her. Except...the story is a bit more complicated than that. Xan is an old witch who lives with a happy young dragon and a great big creature near a Bog. Xan, in addition to doing witchy things like learning and casting spells, happily takes babies left in a spot every year and delivers them to the Outside Cities. Then one night she accidentally enmagicks a young babe, Luna after giving her moonlight.

Meanwhile in the town from where the babies come, a young lad is trying to make his way in the world and after several false starts he becomes a craftsman and soon settles down with a family. After it is determined that his baby is to be the one sent for the witch he determines to end this once for all. Thus begins an epic quest involving many characters.

The story takes many twists and turns and is certain to thrill readers of all ages. Barnhill deftly weaves in various topics such as conservation, philosophy and even patriarchy. There is one scene near the end of the book involving the dragon that is sure to leave manya reader misty-eyed to be sure. Highly recommended. Some read alikes to this book are Alice Hoffman's Nightbird, Anne Ursu's Breadcrumbs and Chris Colfer's The Land of Stories series.