The Daring of Della Dupree by Natasha Lowe

Della Dupree is training to become a witch.  She goes to school for it and has no real problem until they are all asked to write a paper about the founder of the school.  Who just happens to be named the same as she is...

Paula Wiseman Books and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published May 21st.

She sees a reference to a spell book, so she goes to the library to look it over.  It doesn't tell her what she'd like to know.  Then she remembers one of her teachers coming back into a room like magic.  She had used a time travel necklace to visit her dog when he was just a puppy.  (He has passed away.)  She decides to go way back to the 1200's to visit the beginning of the school.  She sneaks a necklace, takes her wand and away we go...

She ends up on the ground in the forest.  It doesn't take her long to find out these people hated witches.  It seems the school hasn't started yet.  She goes to get a job at the castle.  She gets one as a housekeeper/kitchen crew.  She has to hide her magic or she will get in trouble.Then the comedian, Tom Foolery steals her necklace and refuses to give it back.  Will she ever get home again?

This was a very good read and I enjoyed it.  It even has a nice ending.  What more could you want?

Lucy Castor Finds Her Sparkle by Natasha Lowe

Lucy spent her summer with her relatives and is back and ready to go to school.  She can't wait to see her best friend again.  They work on magic together.  But her friend has changed.  She's joined a new group and isn't interesting in the games they used to play.  Now Lucy is all alone again and hates it.  She gets invited to be a sparkle girl but that's not what she wants to do.  So she sits at lunch alone...

Paula Wiseman Books and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 20th.

I could feel Lucy's pain.  When I went to parochial school, all the girls were from the city but one.  We country ones became friends but the others already had their own friends.  Then for a few years her parents couldn't pay the fees and I was alone.  It's not fun.

Lucy is lucky, though.  She finds two unusual friends who are much nicer than she imagined.  One of them reads all the time and one of them is her neighbor girl who is older and weird.  She never imagined weird could be nice.

Lucy's biggest problem was that she didn't like change.  So when her mother is sick and then her parents make the announcement another baby was coming, she's not thrilled.

Lucy has lots of adventures this year and she's learning to almost accept change.  Some of us still have that lesson to learn. 

The Marvelous Magic of Miss Mabel by Natasha Lowe

Nora hears a noise on the front porch and goes out to see what it was.  What she finds is a baby in her planter.  She doesn't know who left her.  Her first thought is that she would turn her over to the authorities but as soon as she picks her up and the baby snuggles, she's lost that thought.  She never had children.  She'll raise this one and name her after her mother, Mabel.

Paula Wiseman Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published August 30th.

Mabel is a typical little girl with a magical touch.  Nora hires a nanny so she'll have all the care she needs when the maid is busy and she's working in the greenhouse.  The nanny is nasty.  She deprives Mabel of food, makes her do embroidery for hours and whacks her with her umbrella.  She tries to tell her mother about it but she only sees the nanny smile and be nice.   Even the maid is not happy because if Mabel doesn't eat her porridge, the nanny saves it and feeds it to her the next day.  Ugh!

They first notice her magic when Mabel floats in the sky.  Nora gets afraid for her and starts looking for answers.  When Mabel visits a fortune teller who says she is full of great magic, Nora decides to send her to witch school.  The only problem is that she doesn't want to do the things they teach.  And they won't let her experiment with magic; that only causes trouble.  She does her best to get along but one girl bullies her continually.  When she steals her magic idea for the exhibit and locks Mabel in the attic, trouble is coming.

Mabel is an independent free thinker and she doesn't fit in well with the establishment.  But it's her experiments and determination that save the day.

This was a fun read with enough silliness to make you laugh and enough antics to keep you reading.  Everything turns out well in the end.  Give it a read, you'll like it.