A Snicker of Magic

Author: Natalie Lloyd

Genre: Fantasy

What this book is about: Felicity Juniper Pickle has moved around all her life, never staying in one place for long. She collects words she can see everywhere; sometimes shaped like songbirds, silver, some like ribbons, curling in the wind; others six-legged and bright yellow. She collects them in her blue notebook; or sometimes on her shoe when she doesn't have enough room. She can say her words just fine when she's talking to someone she loves or about them, but talking to a classroom of students? Forget it. But when her, her mama, and her little sister, Frannie Jo, move into Midnight Gulch, Tennessee, Felicity knows that here she can have a fresh start.

Midnight Gulch used to be a magical place, where you could bake secrets into pies and dance away a thunderstorm. But a curse drove the magic away, all of it - at least that's what people say. But Felicity Pickle knows that there is still a snicker of magic in Midnight Gulch, and she intends on finding out so she can stay in Midnight Gulch and not have to move away and start all over again. It starts with a story. About the brothers Threadbare.

"Like most people in Midnight Gulch, the Brothers Threadbare were simple, easygoing folk...who just happened to have a little magic in their blood." That's what Ms. Lawson, Felicity's teacher says. "Their real names were Stone and Berry Weatherly. Every family in Midnight Gulch had a different kind of magic. The Weatherly magic was a particularly wonderful kind, though, because their magic had to do with music."

"Whenever Stone and Berry played their songs, the whole world seemed to dance. At the first strum of Berry Weatherly's banjo, the wind would roar over the valleys. When Stone played his guitar, the clouds swirled into a thousand different shapes: cloud lions, cloud tiger, thunderheads that ran like wild horses across the sky."

"At first, the Weatherlys left town together, on a tour. They traveled from country to city, trying to make enough money from their music to send back to their farm. People couldn't get enough of them. But sadly, their fame and fortune became a dividing line between them. They got so jealous, that they finally decided to have a duel. Whoever won could keep all the money and fame and fortune they'd earned. But the loser would be cursed forever with a wandering heart. The loser would leave town, never return, never settle down. And never do another magic trick."

"But soon after the loser left, both figured they couldn't do another magic trick anyway. And after that, people got restless and sad. They started leaving, heading out in search of what they had lost. And before people knew it, the magic was gone completely. And Midnight Gulch became the same as any other town."

But Felicity knows this is not any other town. It could never be any other town. And she goes on an adventure with poems, a boy named Jonah, and lots and lots of ice cream.

Your opinion: I really enjoyed this book and liked all of it. It was funny and descriptive. It was amazing and my favorite book so far. 

Rating:  5 out of 5 stars

Who would like this book:  I think everybody would like this book, but mostly people who like reading fantasy and humor.

Reviewed by: MT