Giselda the Witch by J S Rumble (Children's, 9 years +, 10E/10E)

Absolutely adore the cover! Matches the feel of the book perfectly.

 May 2017, 70 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Book summary

Giselda discovers that she will not be attending the same junior school as her friends; instead she will be going to Wigmore’s school for witches. Due to an unfortunate mistake she arrives a bit earlier than even she expected but soon settles in and makes a new friend through the fence.

Things are going well until some girls find out how she arrived at school and start to tease her about it. To prove that she is just as good at magic as everybody else Giselda agrees to travel up the mountain and steal from the dragon that lives there

Nayu's thoughts

If you're a fan of magic, love the new BBC version of The Worst Witch, and/or want a heroine you cheer on and want to beat the bullies, Giselda is your girl! I felt sorry for her because nothing went as planned, normally in a negative way. It was hard for her to have other witches laugh at her ignorance because she simply hadn't known things as her family chose not to enlighten her in magical ways, but she finds the best way to fix all that. 

Okay her decision lead her to a situation that was more than a bit dangerous, but she wasn't alone in her quest, and not with her new friend who she didn't always like (I liked the realisim in that).  Giselda digs deep for inner courage, making me smile every time she overcame the hurdles thrown her way which makes her a great role model. I wanted to read the next book straight away, but it's not available just yet. This isn't a scary read, but a fun one which captures the highs and lows of life at school, made a bit different by magic. 

Be sure to follow J S on Twitter for all the latest Giselda news! 

Suggested read

Another great magical read is Bird Girl by Maudie Smith (Children's, 9 years +, 9/10E)