Greetings From Woods Beyond
Hello to you all! My name is Kaliisha. I have just begun my senior year of college. My school journey is almost at a close, but like most great books, the story is never truly over once you reach “The End.” A little bit more about me is that I adore Young Adult books of any genre. Some of my favorites are And They Lived by Steven Salvatore, Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim, and Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro! However, my all time favorite book/ book series of all time is The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani! Fun fact: I actually got to meet the School Master in person this year (which you can see in the image)!
I thought that for my first post I would recommend some titles that are fairly similar to my favorite series!
- Almost Magic by Kathleen Bullock (Spencer Hill Press)
Ever since she turned twelve, Apple Bramblewood’s life has been plagued by visits from weird creatures from the magical realms.
It seems she is a rare Attractor, a Wizard whose sole talent is solving the clamorous demands of very odd beings, usually in the most unorthodox, haphazard, and klutzy ways. Apple doesn’t want to be an Attractor; her most passionate goal is to attend the ordinary high school with ordinary kids where her perfect older sister, Cornelia, is allowed to go. Her parents have no doubts about Cornelia’s magical prowess, but Apple seems destined to be home-schooled forever if she can’t pass the entrance exam and perfect at least one magical enchantment.
Almost Magic is Apple’s first-person account of that magic summer between childhood and adolescence and, in Apple’s case, one filled with the most amazing, hilarious, and often dangerous events.
2. Wildseed Witch by Marti Dumas (Abrams Books)
Hasani’s post-seventh-grade summer to-do list is pretty simple: get a bigger following for her makeup YouTube channel and figure out how to get her parents back together. What she does NOT expect is that an emotional outburst will spark a latent magical ability in her. Or that the magic will be strong enough to attract the attention of witches. Or that before she can say #BlackGirlMagic, she’ll be shipped off on a scholarship to a fancy finishing school for talented young ladies.
Les Belles Demoiselles is a literal charm school. Here, generations of young ladies from old-money witch families have learned to harness their magic, and alumnae grow to become some of the most powerful women across industries, including politicians, philanthropists, CEOs, entrepreneurs—and yes, even social media influencers. Needless to say, admission to the school is highly coveted, very exclusive . . . and Hasani sticks out like a weed in a rose bouquet.
While the other girls have always known they were destined to be witches, Hasani is a Wildseed––a stray witch from a family of non-witches, with no background knowledge, no way to control her magic, and a lot to catch up on. “Wildseed” may be an insult that the other girls throw at her, but Wildseeds are more powerful than they know. And Hasani will learn that there are ways to use magic and thrive that can never be taught in a classroom.
3. Kingston and The Magician’s Lost and Found by Rucker Moses and Theo Gangi (Penguin Random House)
Twelve-year-old Kingston has just moved from the suburbs back to Echo City, Brooklyn—the last place his father was seen alive. Kingston’s father was King Preston, one of the world’s greatest magicians. Until one trick went wrong and he disappeared. Now that Kingston is back in Echo City, he’s determined to find his father.
Somehow, though, when his father disappeared, he took all of Echo City’s magic with him. Now Echo City—a ghost of its past—is living up to its name. With no magic left, the magicians have packed up and left town and those who’ve stayed behind don’t look too kindly on any who reminds them of what they once had.
When Kingston finds a magic box his father left behind as a clue, Kingston knows there’s more to his father’s disappearance than meets the eye. He’ll have to keep it a secret—that is, until he can restore magic to Echo City. With his cousin Veronica and childhood friend Too Tall Eddie, Kingston works to solve the clues, but one wrong move and his father might not be the only one who goes missing.
Buy Kingston and The Magician’s Lost and Found Now!
I am so excited to be able to work with Beaufort Books and Spencer Hill Press for this fall season. I love books, but I also just love talking about them, too!
Sincerely,
Kaliisha of Woods BEAUyond
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