Thursday, January 28, 2016

Baker's Magic by Diane Zahler

Bee is an orphan.  She's tired of being hungry and abused, so she runs away.  She doesn't know where she's going or what she'll do but it has to be better than where she was before.  She's so hungry after not eating for a couple of days, she follows her nose to the bakery.  When she goes inside, she spots a bun close enough to grab.  Grab it she does, but she doesn't get far.  What will this big baker man do to her?

Capstone Young Readers and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 1st.

After the baker has expressed his anger, he tells her she has to come and work her debt off in his bakery.  She agrees.  He looks her over and gives her another bun.  Then he puts her to work.  He also takes her in when he hears of her circumstances.  It works well for him.  He's suddenly much busier than he used to be.  That's when Bee finds out she has a special talent.  Her moods affect her baking.  When she's in a good mood, so is everyone that eats a bakery item she's made.  It goes the other way, too.

This is a very good fantasy tale that has a princess, a blacksmith's son, and Bee all having the adventures of their life.  The princess is an orphan, too.  The mage in the castle isn't treating the princess well, so Bee decides they'll go see the Mage Council and get them to remove him from their village.  That doesn't turn out well, but it's not the end of the story.

There lots of adventure, it's a busy tale with all sorts of action and danger, and it ends well.  There's even an ecological lesson in it.  I liked it!

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