Miss Ellicott's School for the Magically Minded, by Sage Blackwood

Miss Ellicott's School for the Magically Minded, by Sage Blackwood

From my Kirkus column on Miss Ellicott's School for the Magically Minded, by Sage Blackwood:

Chantel Goldenrod, like the rest of the students at Miss Ellicott’s School for Magical Maidens, was left on the doorstep of the school as a baby. Since the very beginning, she has excelled at her magical studies—she summoned her familiar, the snake Japheth, when she was only six!—although she has never been particularly good at Deportment. Now thirteen, she’s one of the oldest students at Miss Ellicott’s—and so naturally, she’s the person that the other girls turn to when they find themselves on their own.

This is a book about recognizing the difference between staying safe and being a prisoner. About being afraid of the unknown and living life in a defensive state versus working to understand the challenges—and sometimes the dangers—that you face.