Skip to main content

Review: Emma and the Love Spell

Image
By
By Meredith Ireland
New York: Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2024. Fiction. 251 pages.

Ever since she was small, Emma has had magic powers. Her adoptive parents always seem scared of them -- or of someone finding out -- and so she keeps them concealed and under control as best as she can. But still, whenever her emotions spiral out of control, she loses control of her powers and usually affects the weather and environment around her. Two years ago, when Emma, who is Korean American, and her parents moved into a small town, she struggled to fit in and make friends. So now, when her best (and only) friend Lina (who she also has a major crush on) is moving across the country because her parents are getting a divorce, Emma doesn't know what she'll do without her. Though she still doesn't feel in control of her powers, Emma is confident that now is the time to use her powers on purpose --to get Lina's parents back together. Of course, playing with people's emotions always has consequences, as Emma is about to find out.
This is a fun light fantasy for readers who want a little bit of romance in a grounded in reality story. There's a theme of trusting your own intuition throughout that works really nicely, especially when it comes to suspicious adults who want kids to keep secrets. Satisfying, but with an open ending for potential sequels.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Just Shine!

By
Just Shine! Written by Sonia Sotomayor Illustrated by Jacqueline Alcantara New York, NY : Philomel, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2025. Picture Book. At the beginning of each new year, a lot of people like to set goals for themselves. Often, these tend to be number-oriented: a specified number of minutes reading, a certain number of steps walked each day, or even goals related to saving money. I have often felt very intimidated by number-oriented goals, and shy away from making them. In recent conversations with friends and family, we have talked about goals that are more skill-related or focused on bringing joy into the world and our personal lives. In line with that way of thinking, I am recommending this book to everyone! This book would be amazing for discussing goals with people who prefer to have goals that are different from traditional "number-oriented" ones. The cover and the artwork left me feeling happy and very invested in the story the author wanted to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Kareem Between

By
  Kareem Between By Shifa Saltagi Safadi New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2024. Fiction. 324 pages.  Kareem loves football and as he gets ready to start seventh grade he dreams of someday becoming the first Syrian American NFL player. Seventh grade is not off to a great start for Kareem, after football tryouts don't go as he had planned, his best friend moves away, and his mom returns to Syria to help bring his sick grandfather to the US for treatment. So when Austin, the quarterback and coach's son, offers to talk to his dad and get Kareem on the football team in the spring, if he will cheat and do his homework for him, Kareem agrees. Kareem really wants to fit in at school and he is desperate to find a friend, but deep down he knows that doing Austin's homework isn't the right thing to do. And to make things harder, Kareem's mom asks him to be a friend to Fadi, a Syrian Christian refugee. He knows he should stand up for Fadi and help him adjust to the new school,...
Post a Comment
Read more