A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking

4.5 stars! I thoroughly enjoyed this lighthearted little adventure that just had so much creativity behind it. I was honestly shocked to read in the Acknowledgments that the author had had issues finding a publisher who would publish it, saying it was “too dark” for a children's book. I can't say much about children at large but I think I would absolutely love something like this back when I was a kid.

It's about a young 14 year old wizard and baker's apprentice. Mona whose only magical talent had to do with bread of all things. She can only manipulate bread and only by trying to persuade it to do things, like not burn in the oven. The book opens engagingly when Mona trips over a dead body in her bakery, which then leads her against her will into the heart of a treacherous plot. At some point, she really gets into some very serious defensive baking. You might expect that she has a stale gingerbread man sidekick, but what I particularly liked was her familiar: a feisty carnivorous sourdough starter named Bob. Isn't that just amazing?!

The world in this one is reminiscent of Diana Wynne Jones - whimsical, sparkling with wit, a child-like black and white perspective on people that's still sprinkled with touches of harsh reality. It's perfect for its target middle grade audience who are just starting on that tough transition from the overly ideal world of children's fairy tales to the jaded adult world.

Mona is herself a relatable protagonist. She's just a 14 year old girl who just wanted to do the right thing but then continued to find herself being pulled into more and more complex plots agaisnt her will just to make up for the incompetence or malignancies of adults. She isn't a Mary Sue or finding a deeper true purpose or calling. She just does what needed to be done because there was no one else to, and so that she could keep her loved ones safe.

I also never thought I would feel any kind of empathy for gingerbread men or a bucket of sourdough starter in my life, but here we are.

For fans of light fantasy with humour, Diana Wynne Jones, and/or baking, this is a must read.