Middle Grade Fiction – Fantasy & Magic – Friendship – Legends, Myths & Fables – Ages 9-12

Published: 3/7/2023

Friendship is the most powerful magic of all.

An instant New York Times bestseller from the Pura Belpr Award-winning author of Frizzy! Disney’s The Owl House meets Nevermoor in a brilliant and magical adventure from Claribel A. Ortega!

Every year, in the magical town of Ravenskill, Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches.

And twelve-year-old Seven Salazar can’t wait to be placed in the most powerful coven with her best friend! But on the night of the ceremony, in front of the entire town, Seven isn’t placed in one of the five covens. She’s a Spare!

Spare covens have fewer witches, are less powerful, and are looked down on by everyone. Even worse, when Seven and the other two Spares perform the magic circle to seal their coven and cement themselves as sisters, it doesn’t work! They’re stuck as Witchlingsand will never be able to perform powerful magic.

Seven invokes her only option: the impossible task. The three Spares will be assigned an impossible task: If they work together and succeed at it, their coven will be sealed and they’ll gain their full powers. If they fail… Well, the last coven to make the attempt ended up being turned into toads. Forever.

But maybe friendship can be the most powerful magic of all

With action-packed adventure, a coven of quirky witchlings, Claribel A. Ortega’s signature humor, and girl-power vibes, you won’t be able to put down this middle-grade Latine witch story, perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers or Harry Potter.

AUTHOR BIO:

Claribel A. Ortega,New York Timesbestselling author ofGhost Squadand the Witchlings series, and Pura Belpr and Eisner Award-winning author of the graphic novelFrizzy, is a former reporter who writes middle grade and young adult fantasy inspired by her Dominican heritage. When she’s not busy turning her obsession with eighties pop culture, magic, and video games into books, she’s co-hosting her podcastBad Author Book Cluband coaching authors on how to navigate publishing. Claribel has been featured on BuzzFeed, NPR,Good Morning America, andDeadline. You can find her on social media at @Claribel_Ortega and on her website at claribelortega.com.