The Witch of Woodland by Laurel Snyder

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Witch of Woodland by Laurel Snyder April Spisak Snyder, Laurel The Witch of Woodland. Walden Pond/HarperCollins [304p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780062836656 $19.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780062836670 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 4-6 Zippy prefers a predictable life, so she's thrown for quite the loop when her best friend is suddenly more interested in the popular kids instead of their cozy dyad, [End Page 305] and her parents insist that she begin studying for her bat mitzvah, which means she has to start meeting a rabbi she doesn't know and other students she doesn't trust. She has always used magic to make sense of her life, casting small spells or chanting ritualistically in attempts to enact change or retake control—though whether it is an emotional placebo or genuine witchy abilities is a bit ambiguous. What is absolutely obvious and indisputable, however, is that the girl she conjures up, Miriam, is entirely dependent on Zippy for nourishment and guidance. At first, Miriam is the perfect best friend replacement, but it soon becomes clear that she is not a living girl at all, and Miriam has a hunger that may take more from Zippy than she has to give. Zippy is skeptical of religion, questioning herself, her parents, and the (thankfully quite patient and open-minded) rabbi in her quest to find real answers to, she soon learns, unanswerable questions. Zippy's stressed out first-person narration and harried juggling of too many new things makes her compelling from the first page, even as she is vulnerable and baffled at how other people seem to actually enjoy spontaneity and change. There's much to ponder here in friendship, family dynamics, and religion, and Zippy's growth is hard-earned and deserved. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois