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Fans of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book will embrace this darkly funny debut novel from Laurel Gale about Crow, a dead boy, who has a chance at friendship—and a chance at getting his life back.

The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children: A Novel by Keith McGowan; illustrated by Yoko Tanaka. Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. 2009. Brilliance Audio, 2009. Narrated by Laural Merlington. Review copy supplied by Brilliance Audio.

The Plot: A modern retelling of Hansel and Gretel. Sol and Connie Blink's father and stepmother have decided they don't want their children around anymore; luckily, there's a witch who will take care of the children for them.

The Good: "I love children. Eating them, that is." So begins the tale of Faye Holaderry, witch.

Hansel and Gretel is one of the more disturbing of the Grimm's Fairy Tales. What's worse, the witch eating children or the ultimate betrayal, that it's your parents who abandon you?

McGowan takes these two horrors, embraces them, and balances scary with funny. In his tale, it's not just a parent abandoning a child in a time of famine; oh no, it's much worse. It's parents who willingly turn their children over to the witch for every reason from bad grades to being kind to homeless people. Derek Wisse, turned over for disappointing his parents, doesn't disappoint Fay; not when "baked with secret ingredients and served with my very yummy homemade key lime pie." Mmmm, key lime pie. I love how the author uses humor, but also ups the horror by giving the nameless murdered children names, personalities, histories. Recipes.

As in the fairy tale, Mrs. Blink is a stepmother; McGowan plays with some of the fairy tale aspects, making Mr. Blink not who he seems. Various standards from fairy tales are used, twisted, reinvented, such as riddles, helpers, hunters.

Sol is 11; Connie, 8. Sol fashions himself as a scientist and inventor, like his mother, who died years before. Sol's scientific mind is a nice contrast against the magic of Holaderry. Holaderry has had to adjust to modern times (no house made out of candy or bread); but she is a witch who has lived centuries. Magic remains, even if its the magic of herbs, of hiding in plain sight. Sol and Connie find people who help them along; people who hinder; but ultimately, they need to rely on themselves and each other.

I love, love, love the ending. It's delicious. Your young horror fans will be thrilled. Grownups may worry about The Witch's Guide being too scary for kids (witches eating children! bad parents!) but kids will eat it up. Professional reviews vary as to whether this is for 9, 10, or 11 and up; I say, it depends on how much the reader likes scary stories. For someone like my niece, who loves Goosebumps and scary stories and Jurassic Park? Age 9. For other kids, it will be older.

I listened to this on audio, and the narrator realistically gave voice to a boy, a girl, a witch. Upon visiting the author's website,

Dear Friends,

At the risk of her turning a scorching violet, please join me in congratulating Robin as Houghton Mifflin releases the second in the already-madly-successful series, with Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris. Robin's first Theo book, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, garnered her two starred reviews, and Booklist nailed it with "A sure hit with the Harry Potter fans!" That is so the kind of thing a girl likes to hear (le swoon)! School Library Journal called Theo a "combination of Nancy Drew and Indiana Jones."   It was also a Junior Literary Guild Pick and a BookSense (now Indie Bound) Summer Pick.

From the new release's bookflap: Theodosia Throckmorton is in a fix. Allowed to attend a reception given by one of the directors of her parents' museum, she stumbles across Mr. Tetley of the British Museum—in most unusual circumstances! Since Theo has last seen him in a showdown in an ancient Egyptian tomb, his reappearance could mean only one thing: the Serpents of Chaos are back. Once again Theodosia will have to take on secret societies, evil curses, and dark magic too sinister to imagine, especially if it falls into the wrong hands. Blocked at every turn, Theodosia will have to rely on her own skill and cunning—along with a little help from the most unexpected places. 


The art is stunning. Illustrator Yoko Tanaka is a wonder. The cover screams Pick.Me.Up.Now! Which is exactly what I did when I was at LAX recently, and saw it in their bookstore. I was so excited I had to immediately take a picture of it with my yell phone, and email it to Robin. It thrilled me LOT.  She's the first airport author I've ever known.  One for my bucket list!

Robin will be doing her inaugural signing this Sunday, November 23rd from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at our local favorite Indie, Chaucer's Books in Santa Barbara. I will be signing my newish release from Wendy Lamb Books alongside her, as well as making up stuff to embarrass her with customers. She's resigned herself to it by now. :-]

Contest Alert! I will send a signed copy of Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris and a stick-on Egyptian tattoo to the first person who can tell me who Robin dedicated her book to.   If you are the winner, and you'd like this book for your local school or library, I am happy to send it to them directly.  But feel free to keep it for your private collection.  :>