From the Publisher
★ “Meriano builds a wonderful contemporary world in small-town Texas, full of diverse characters, where magic feels right at home and muggles will feel equally welcome. A series opener that’s proof that windows and mirrors can be magical ingredients.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
★ “A delectable debut with wide appeal.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
★ “Full of spirit and humor, A Dash of Trouble truly is love, sugar and magic.” — Shelf Awareness (starred review)
“The power of friendship and family bonds, as well as how good intentions can end badly, are strong themes that will resonate with middle-grade readers. Leo is a funny, lovable protagonist, and readers will feel right at home in this cozy series starter.” — ALA Booklist
“Meriano sets up a promising premise for a sweetly joyful series.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Chock full of humor, magic, friendship and sisterhood, Anna Meriano’s debut launches a new series that celebrates Mexican-American culture and traditions.” — BookPage
Shelf Awareness (starred review)
★ “Full of spirit and humor, A Dash of Trouble truly is love, sugar and magic.
ALA Booklist
The power of friendship and family bonds, as well as how good intentions can end badly, are strong themes that will resonate with middle-grade readers. Leo is a funny, lovable protagonist, and readers will feel right at home in this cozy series starter.
BookPage
Chock full of humor, magic, friendship and sisterhood, Anna Meriano’s debut launches a new series that celebrates Mexican-American culture and traditions.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Meriano sets up a promising premise for a sweetly joyful series.
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2017-10-01
In the small town of Rose Hill, Texas, the Logroño family runs a truly magical bakery in Meriano's debut.Leo, short for Leonora, is the youngest of five sisters in a Mexican-American family. Leo feels left out as the older girls step up to help run the family bakery while she watches from the sidelines. Convinced that secrets are being kept from her, Leo skips school to do some reconnaissance and stumbles upon, first, the other women of the family participating in a mysterious ceremony and then, later, an old book titled Recetas de amor, azúcar, y magia, or Recipes of Love, Sugar, and Magic. When eldest sister Isabel discovers Leo with the book, she confirms Leo's suspicions that something is being kept from her: the women of her family are brujas, or witches. Though Isabel warns her against it, Leo decides to pursue her magical training independently, guided by the enigmatic recipe book, and uses the recipes to help her friends out of sticky situations. When things inevitably misfire, Leo finds she is on her own to right her magical mistakes. In this weave of Mexican, Texan, and American cultures, readers are sure to find mirrors to their own experiences and windows onto others, all wrapped in a fantastical bow. Scrupulously avoiding tokenism, Meriano builds a wonderful contemporary world in small-town Texas, full of diverse characters, where magic feels right at home and muggles will feel equally welcome.A series opener that's proof that windows and mirrors can be magical ingredients. (Fantasy. 8-12)
