Summary:
From the publisher:
Every year, in the magical town of Ravenskill, Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches.
And twelve-year-old Seven Salazar can’t wait to be placed in the most powerful coven with her best friend! But on the night of the ceremony, in front of the entire town, Seven isn’t placed in one of the five covens. She’s a Spare!
Spare covens have fewer witches, are less powerful, and are looked down on by everyone. Even worse, when Seven and the other two Spares perform the magic circle to seal their coven and cement themselves as sisters, it doesn’t work! They’re stuck as Witchlings-and will lose their magic.
Seven invokes her only option: the impossible task. The three Spares will be assigned an impossible task: If they work together and succeed at it, their coven will be sealed and they’ll gain their full powers. If they fail… Well, the last coven to make the attempt ended up being turned into toads. Forever.
But maybe friendship can be the most powerful magic of all…
Review:
I loved every second of this book. It was an exciting and touching story about outcasts and how powerful friendship and sticking together can be. I think this book also does an excellent job capturing the emotions of its twelve-year-old protagonists experiencing things like new friendships and friend break-ups.
I thought the story of this book was also told incredibly well, it had humor throughout, but the more you read, the more you found out about how corrupt the governments of the twelve towns can be. I think this book did an excellent job of tackling some more mature themes in a way kids will more easily relate to and understand, and acknowledges that they too have the power to speak up for what’s right.
I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially to those who feel like outcasts among their peers. Ages 8 and up.
Moline Public Library Kids 