The Witch of Woodland

by Laurel Snyder

Overview

A young girl preparing for her bat mitzvah discovers she has mysterious abilities in this magical contemporary coming-of-age story from the beloved author of Orphan Island.

Hi, whoever is reading this. I’m Zipporah Chava McConnell, but everyone calls me Zippy.

Things used to be simple—until a few weeks ago. Now my best friend, Bea, is acting funny; everyone at school thinks I’m weird; and my mom is making me start preparing for my bat mitzvah, even though we barely ever go to synagogue. In fact, the only thing that still seems to make sense is magic.

See, the thing is, I’m a witch. I’ve been casting spells since I was little. And even if no one else wants to believe in magic anymore, it’s always made sense to me, always felt true. But I was still shocked the day I found a strange red book at the library and somehow...I conjured something. A girl, actually. A beautiful girl with no memory, and wings like an angel. You probably don’t believe me, but I swear it’s the truth.

Miriam is like no one else I’ve ever met. She’s proof that magic is real. And, it’s hard to explain this part, but I just know that we’re connected. That means it’s up to me to help Miriam figure out what she is and where she came from. If I can do that, maybe everything else in my life will start to make sense too.

Anyway, it’s worth a try.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062836656
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/16/2023
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	202,563
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Laurel Snyder is the beloved author of many picture books and novels for children, including National Book Award nominee Orphan Island, the Geisel Award winner Charlie & Mouse, and the Sydney Taylor Award winner The Longest Night. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she teaches in Hamline University’s MFA in writing for children and young adults program. She lives in Atlanta with her family and can be found online at laurelsnyder.com.

Editorial Reviews

04/03/2023

In Atlanta, a Jewish witchcraft enthusiast drafts a book about her 13th year, blending mystical components with problems of ordinary life. Zipporah Chava McConnell’s intermarried family are what Zippy thinks of as “like… part-time Jews,” so she’s taken aback when her mother announces that it’s time to prepare for her bat mitzvah. The family attends synagogue for the High Holidays each year, but Zippy doesn’t feel like she fits in, and she’s not sure about “the whole faith-y part.” Her real love is witchcraft, and she’s long had an affinity for creating spells. But belief systems and incantations start intertwining when Zippy’s Torah reading mentions a sorceress, and they really intermingle when her speaking a Hebrew word accidentally summons a winged being, whom she calls Miriam. Zippy tries to help Miriam recover her memories and return to wherever she’s from—the company’s nice, too, since Zippy and best friend Bea aren’t talking. Structuring the novel as Zippy’s accounting of the strange events, Snyder (Endlessly Ever After) leans into the tween’s candid, fourth-wall-breaking narration to interrogate interpersonal difficulties and mysteries of faith, resulting in an evolving portrait of a nearly 13-year-old growing up before her own eyes. Ages 8–12. Agent: Tina Dubois, ICM Partners. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"This novel is genuinely bewitching. It’s sometimes eerie, it asks tough spiritual questions, and it features a depiction of Yom Kippur services so lovely it brought tears to my eyes." — New York Times Book Review

"This lively middle-grade read offers a spirited exploration of the strength required to know and stay true to oneself in adolescence." — Booklist

“Snyder leans into the tween’s candid, fourth-wall-breaking narration to interrogate interpersonal difficulties and mysteries of faith, resulting in an evolving portrait of a nearly 13-year-old growing up before her own eyes.”  — Publishers Weekly

"Zippy’s awkwardness, from her fights with her best friend to the way she dabbles in both Judaism and witchcraft, is painfully, believably genuine. And as the rabbi teaches her, her struggles with Judaism and her attempts to make it fit into her witchiness are exemplars of Jewish learning." — Kirkus Reviews

“Compelling from the first page. There’s much to ponder here in friendship, family dynamics, and religion, and Zippy’s growth is hard-earned and deserved.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

2023-04-12
A 13-year-old witch just wants things to stay the way they are, so who needs a bat mitzvah?

Zippy—Zipporah Chava McConnell—doesn’t feel very Jewish. Her parents take her to synagogue for the High Holidays and halfheartedly follow Passover, but mostly they’re just an everyday, White, American family living in Atlanta. What’s special about Zippy is that she’s a witch. She collects items that make her feel witchy: black candles, birds’ eggs, a blue penny. She makes up spells, mantras that settle her anxiety or vanish pimples. Maybe Judaism itself is a little witchy, too. Sure, Zippy’s bat mitzvah parsha—the Torah reading she will recite—says “Thou shalt not tolerate a sorceress to live,” but even so, the Hebrew letters feel so…magical. And has Zippy somehow summoned a Jewish angel? Or maybe a dybbuk? How has she learned Hebrew overnight, and why does she suddenly know how to play the piano? Zippy dips her toe into the Jewish esoteric, finding parts that seem comfortably familiar to her homegrown occult witchcraft. But the creature Zippy has summoned is hurting her. Zippy’s awkwardness, from her fights with her best friend to the way she dabbles in both Judaism and witchcraft, is painfully, believably genuine. And as the rabbi teaches her, her struggles with Judaism and her attempts to make it fit into her witchiness are exemplars of Jewish learning.

Authentically uncomfortable, a well-done modern attempt to explore self and community. (Fantasy. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews

Dara Rosenberg's pacing could be best described by the name of this audiobook's main character: Zippy. Fast pacing perfectly expresses the way Zipporah Chaya McConnell has moved through her life. Now, however, seventh grade brings roadblocks and challenges. Rosenberg brings out the confusion in Zippy's first-person narration as her "part-time" Jewish parents nudge her to become bat mitzvahed; her best friend, Bea, chooses mature friends; and, most perplexing, Zippy's witchy practice produces a girl with wings who doesn't know her identity. Is she an angel or a dybbuk, and why overnight does Zippy know Hebrew? Rosenberg fills her narration with a sense of questioning that never slows the momentum as Zippy comes to understand her own identity. S.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

June 2023 - AudioFile