Gr 4–7—Expectations are high for 12-year-old Rose Anders, whose father, Wendell, is the most successful magic catcher in Belling Bright. When magic-catching day does not go as planned for Rose, she suffers an embarrassing letdown. Haydu's work of magical realism evokes fraught emotions boiling just below the surface of Rose's "perfect" life. Her first-person narration begins with a confident arrogance that slowly dissipates along with her father's public geniality.

When I got this title from a Goodreads recommendation, I didn't realize it was middle-grade. I wonder if I would have liked it more if I'd read it at age 12. I'm just not the target age for this book.

I was stolen away by the magic in this one, but not in the ways that you might initially think. Yes, it was FASCINATING to hear about the town's most magical family, their traditions, and how great it was going to be on the day of capturing. That was definitely a curiosity that kept pulling my interest...but the real draw, the real moments that stole the show for me, were when we see the relationships in their full glory. From the good to the bad, the ones built on superficial foundations and those that would stand the test of time...or a particularly hard twelfth birthday...THOSE were where my heart lingered. Her bond with her brother warmed my heart. The way that she connected with Stella had me smiling through the tough times she was experiencing. When she found her true self, I couldn't help but be proud. So while yes, the MAGIC was there, and abundant to those lucky enough to see it, it didn't mean the magic that those people were missing out on was any less AMAZING.

All in all, to me it was a realistic take on magic, if ever there could be one. It doesn't remove the sparkle and shine, but it does make it clear that you being YOU is more than enough. It's nice to have that little something extra, but that's exactly what it is...something EXTRA. Having loads is nice, but having just what you need is even better. Kind of like friends...


**copy received for review; opinions are my own ( )

Rose Alice Anders lives in Belling Bright, the most magical place anywhere in the world. Every year on New Year's Day, the citizens of the town go to TooBlue Lake to collect jars of magic. Rose is anxious about her impending twelfth birthday and her first year collecting magic; ever since her birth, her father has been telling her that she is "Little Luck," the most magical. But when the day comes, Rose catches only one jar of magic, and that's with her older brother Lyle's help, and she's afraid to face her father - and equally afraid of facing the implications. If he was wrong about her, what else has he been wrong about?

In the aftermath of New Year's, Rose loses her best friend Ginger to their other friend, Maddy, but she discovers a new friend, Zelda, who lives with her family in the woods, who is Not Meant for Magic. (Readers may pick up on their true relationship before Rose does.) Rose wonders if she, too, is Not Meant for Magic. After all, if magic has the power to make everything beautiful and perfect, why is her family so broken?

Powerful themes of identity, magic and reality, and domestic violence; a true coming-of-age novel.

Quotes

Or if he doesn't know everything, he knows more than anyone else, and maybe that's the same as knowing everything. (3)

Important things have to be said over and over again. (19)

I want to be just like Ginger, and I want to be just like Dad, and I somehow want to be myself, too, but I'm not sure there's any room for me to be all three of us. (21)

...I am here wondering if he was wrong about me, and if that means he could be wrong about so many other things. (84)

It's not easy, following rules that no one's actually told you. (235)

"Mad isn't a forever thing. It's not even the most important thing. It's just a thing you feel sometimes, before you feel something else." (Zelda to Rose, 278)

It's funny, how easily the way things are can feel like the way things have to be. (286)

"There's no normal. Or if there is, we're not it. But there's okay and not okay." (Bennett, 276) ( )