The Evil Wizard Smallbone by Delia Sherman

Nick ran away because he was tired of being beaten by his uncle and bullied by his cousin.  It was a blizzard, he had no supplies and he had no idea where he was going but it had to be better, didn't it?

Candlewick Press and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It has just been published, so you can grab a copy now.

This is busy tale with lots going on and it will hold anybody's attention.  Nick finds a house and asks for aid but whoever was in the trailer slammed the door almost on his nose!  He finds another house and it's huge, it has to have an extra bedroom.  Unfortunately, it also has a wizard...

The wizard has set wards to keep the village safe but there are routines that must be continued for them to continue working.  As people neglected that, it gave the wolf wizard a chance to overthrow the other wizard.  The wolf was a wizard, too, you see.

With myth and fantasy and magic all mixed together, this is a fanciful tale that is fun to read.  Especially since Nick keeps acting out and ends up being a spider and a rat for a while.  It pays to listen to the wizard and not back mouth him.  He's got even more challenges when his cousin and then his uncle find him.  

More than once I held my breath and waited to see how things would work out.  I bet this story will do that to you, too.  This is my kind of fairy tale, I really enjoyed it.  Give it a try.