A Wizard's Guide To Defensive Baking

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You’re making their lives better, just a little tiny bit. It is nearly impossible to be sad when eating a blueberry muffin. I’m pretty sure that’s a scientific fact." 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.” One of the biggest charms of Kingfisher’s writing is the combination of the fantastical with the everyday, often in ways you completely don’t expect. Having a magical talent that only works with baked goods has got to be one of the best ways to highlight this skill, because you don’t get much more everyday than the act of mixing flour and waiting for bread to rise.

Book Genre: Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Magic, Middle Grade, Mystery, Science Fiction Fantasy, Young Adult, Young Adult Fantasy

That the hope Mona manages to provide involves some very bad gingerbread men, a few very large bread golems and a whole lot of carnivorous sourdough starter is what makes the story so much fun. Which it very definitely is.

Her talent is in convincing dough that it wants to do what SHE wants it to do, so it rises properly and it doesn’t burn. And she can make gingerbread men dance – even if she can’t control what kind of dance they do. Mona’s power has definite limits that she has to work within to make it work at all.

One day, while 14-year-old wizard Mona is working in her aunt Tabatha's bakery, she finds a dead girl on the kitchen floor. But that is just the start of her troubles because there is a killer in the city and this assassin seems to be targeting magicas - minor ones like Mona. So the holy water creating zombie frogs really is the least of her problems.

It's a decent Kingfisher, which means the characterization feels solid. There's a few standard characters rolled in (pushy, loving aunt, a thief) as well as some intriguing ones (the uncle, the horse witch). It's ethics and world-building are probably geared a little simply compared to some of her other works, which may be why it feels a little younger. Still, it's a Kingfisher, and the writing is occasionally quite perfect. You expect heroes to survive terrible things. If you give them a medal, then you don’t ever have to ask why the terrible thing happened in the first place. Or try to fix it.”but hey, once a baker, always a baker. If I was going to get thrown in the dungeon, at least I was going to leave a trail of quality pastries behind me.” 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.” is almost here, time for one more book from 2020! This week we’ll take a look at T. Kingfisher’s A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking.

I fully admit that I bought this one for the title. Not that the stabbity-stabbity gingerbread man on the cover isn’t adorable, but it was definitely the title that got me. And I A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking is, like Minor Mage and Summer in Orcus, somewhat darker than may be the norm for middle grade fantasies. While people (even good ones!) die and those adults who should be in charge are fallible, this is still ultimately an uplifting and empowering tale. It’s about people who don’t really want to be heroes — who shouldn’t even have to be heroes — but still rise to the occasion when others have failed, because they’re needed. I think this book is meant for kids, but kids who are totally down with the original Grimm's fairytales. Bad things happen here, but there are also great and relatable lessons. The characters are enjoyable, the plot is fairly straight forward, so it's really the morals and the fun writing that carry this one I think. But I shouldn’t have had to do any of it. There should have been so many grown-ups who should have fixed things before it got down to me and Spindle. It doesn’t make you a hero just because everybody else didn’t do their job.”One morning, Mona finds a dead body in the bakery and from that point on, her life is completely turned upside down. Then one morning she finds a dead body downstairs. Before the end of the day she’s been hauled before a tribunal for murder and becomes the target of a campaign against magic-users. Before the end of the month she finds herself the Head Wizard of Riverbraid, responsible for defending the town against an invading army. She thinks I’m a hero,” I said, when the silence had stretched out. “But I shouldn’t have had to do any of it. There should have been so many grown-ups who should have fixed things before it got down to me and Spindle. It doesn’t make you a hero just because everybody else didn’t do their job.” The magic in A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking is delightful. Just take a look at the cover with that aggressive little gingerbread man waving a knife. And he is the least thing our fourteen year old magician dreams up when asked to defend her whole town from flesh eating savages. Her magic lies in baking so her defenses range from angry gingerbread men, through giant, bread golems to a carnivorous sourdough starter called Bob. For me, this was 4.5 stars, almost 5, and I can very much recommend it, especially as a winter holiday read: there's lots of yummy baking going on and despite of its dark themes, it always manages to maintain a warm and lighthearted tone.