But it never sugarcoats the fact that the situation is beyond dire – and that war is very definitely hell. And that sometimes all it takes is just one horse rider of the apocalypse to bring that fact home. A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking is whimsical and dark and imaginative and fantastic. It gets my enthusiastic recommendation for readers both young and old. Death by sourdough starter. Not a good way to go.”Disclaimer: I don’t bake (unless burning something to a crisp can be considered baking), and apparently neither does T. Kingfisher — but she “bought a Kitchenaid mixer and began grimly following recipes” for the research purpose — and that’s some respectable admiration-worthy dedication. All to write a kids book about a young wizard who can magic bread — featuring carnivorous sourdough starter and feisty militarized gingerbread man cookie. Currently in Riverb

But I did love that at fourteen, Mona is still basically a kid, with young (and snarky) voice and zero contamination with romance that seems to plague so many books aimed at the youngsters. We have our kids grow up too fast in stories, and although Mona does a fair bit of this given the responsibilities thrust upon her, I love that in the end she’s still a kid at heart. Magic, gingerbread, warm laughter and feels…this actually turned out to be a perfect holiday read! The protagonist of A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking is Mona, a fourteen-year-old baker’s assistant with a minor gift that only works on bread dough. It’s a humble but comfortable existence working at her Aunt Tabitha’s bakery, and Mona is happy enough just to be able to help out. The story is about a murder mystery, there are dark echoes of totalitarianism and ethnic cleansing (all wizards either have to leave town or are murdered), and finally there's an army threatening the city while its usual defenders are away. And our heroine has only bread magic and sourdough. Can you defend a city with that? I admit that I thought T. Kingfisher (U. Vernon)'s other works were anywhere between pretty good and pretty okay. Before I began this one, I only really knew the title and liked the idea of it, but I didn't know what to really expect. It was amazing. Terror cannot actually stand up to a full bladder. I was about to be hauled up on murder charges, and all I could think about was oh god I have to go so baaaaad…”He doesn’t seem to mind me taking bits to make bread, and it’s still the best sourdough in town. We just don’t tell anybody about the eating-rats thing.” When you're different, even just a little different, even in a way that people can't see, you like to know that people in power won't judge you for it. stars. After even more time thinking about it, I still LOVE this book, but I'm not sure if it'll be as rereadable as the other books on the 7 stars list. Rereadability is an important factor. Currently in Riverbraid, wizards are missing or becoming dead. There's a powerful assassin that's killing wizards and the magical community is leaving the city or going into hiding.

It is nearly impossibly to be sad when eating a blueberry muffin. I'm pretty sure that's a scientific fact.” of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher It seemed like once you agreed that the government could put you on a list because of something you were born with, you were asking for trouble.”Book Genre: Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Magic, Middle Grade, Mystery, Science Fiction Fantasy, Young Adult, Young Adult Fantasy So needless to say, A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking was full of the wonder and whimsy I was expecting. I also loved, loved, LOVED the focus around magic and baking. I mean, deep down, who wouldn’t want the power to create and animate their own gingerbread man army? And of course, Mona is the perfect heroine to lead the way. In many respects, this was a tale of growing up and self-discovery—granted, not uncommon themes when it comes to books for this age group.