A Wicked Magic

May 1, 2020

Gr 9 Up-In this fantasy debut, high school seniors Dan and Liss are best friends grappling with the pressures of shifting allegiances, romantic relationships, family dynamics and college applications. They are also newly minted witches who have inadvertently summoned a dark spirit that has abducted their classmate and Liss's boyfriend, Johnny. In their efforts to rescue Johnny, the girls enlist Alexa, an outsider and fellow senior who befriends Dan. All three must learn to trust each other as they embark on a quest along the rocky California shore to defeat Kasyan and bring Johnny home. The novel includes mature topics such as depression, self-harm, and child neglect, yet readers will cheer as the girls overcome their demons. The contemporary fictional town of North Coast is a moody place of damp fog, narrow roads winding between thick forests, and sharp drop-offs to the sea, drawn so clearly that it becomes another character in this deftly told mystery. VERDICT Laurens blends the extraordinary and the everyday into her swiftly paced plot and creates characters readers care about as they navigate the challenges of adolescence and independence on the cusp of adulthood.-Gillian D'Ambrosio, Rutgers University, NJ

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2020
California teens get caught up in a witchy misadventure. Though Daniela and Liss, who live in a small coastal town in Northern California, share a close friendship, each wrestles with private demons. Dark-haired Dan copes with depression through self-harm, feeling each time she cuts herself that it might bring her some peace. And blonde-haired Liss struggles with poor self-esteem thanks, in part, to an abusive, overdemanding mother with a drinking problem. Together the best friends hope their discovery of the mysterious Black Book in the giveaway box outside a grocery store will fill their inner voids, offering them an irresistible spell for becoming witches and other magical charms, each promising to be one that will change their lives for the better. Unfortunately for these would-be witches, the spell that really changes things results in the abduction of Liss' boyfriend by an evil spirit and a terrible breach in the girls' friendship. It is only when the two begin to open up to each other and trust mutual friend Alexa, who has hidden magical powers, that they summon the moxie to try to undo the damage they wrought. In her debut, Laurens weaves an intricate, suspense-filled tale mingling everyday teen angst with otherworldly sorcery. Alternating among the perspectives of the three lead characters, the shifting narrative tantalizes teen readers with the possibility of magic. Dan is Mexican American; Liss and Alexa are cued as white. A cinematic, page-ripping debut. (Fiction. 14-18)

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July 1, 2020
Grades 10-1 Dan and Liss used to be best friends. They became witches after a spell from an antique book gave them magic. But magic also took from them: Liss' boyfriend Johnny disappeared after a spell went very, very wrong. Since then, Dan has turned her back on magic, while Liss has run ever closer to it, and the friends have split. When Liss makes contact with Johnny in a hell dimension that's under the control of the local urban legend Lord Kasyan, their reunion isn't happy. Liss is determined to get Johnny back, but she needs Dan to do it?and Dan won't let Liss back into her life. Both girls narrate, and it's obvious in every word how much they've been hurt and how much they've hurt each other. Laurens' debut reads like a modern version of The Craft, and there's no better time for a return to dangerous magic stories than now. With a dark version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch making waves on Netflix, teens will be eager for more twisted witchy tales.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

July 20, 2020
In the remote towns of North Coast, Calif., best friends and high school sophomores Daniela and Elisabeth find an unassuming black book containing “A Spell for the Making of Naive Witches.” Underestimating the forces at play, Liss and Dan inadvertently summon a creature that steals Liss’s boyfriend, Johnny Su, leaving their friendship shattered—and entangling them in a dangerous game that spans decades. Nearly 10 months later, shortly before another teen disappears, Liss makes contact with Johnny, who’s been kept captive underground by a devious supernatural entity, and enlists Dan’s help to rescue him. Unbeknownst to Liss and Dan, Dan’s new friend Alexa is contending with her own magical awakening and its fallout. With magic and mystery at the fore, Laurens hooks readers’ attention while thoughtfully developing each of the three protagonists, all of whom have secrets beyond their magic: Dan hides her depression and self-harm; Liss’s self-hatred, compulsions, and insecurity drive her to make reckless, self-sabotaging choices; and Alexa’s trauma and fear of abandonment leave her feeling alone and afraid to seek help. Deftly plotted, with engaging, realistic characters, this paranormal debut has appreciable depth. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jennifer Udden, Barry Goldblatt Literary.