Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Being fourteen is hard work--and nobody knows that better than Rache Weinstein. She's got a major crush on the two most popular guys in school, Raf and Mick; she's been dumped by her best friend since preschool, Jewel, and instead has hooked up with not-so-popular Tammy; she's got the rhythm of a baboon and so didn't get to audition for her school's all-important fashion show; she's a quasi B-lister instead of a coveted A-lister; her dad is getting ready to marry the most annoying soon-to-be-stepmother in the world; and now, to top things off, she's found out that her younger sister, Miri, is a witch. Seems mom is a witch, too, her decided to live life without her powers, and Miri's inherited her mom's special gift.

Oh, the horror, the unfairness, the indignity! Not only did Miri get the boobs, but now she got the special super powers! Miri, who makes anal retentive, obsessive-compulsive list-makers look like chaos magnets, can now do just about anything she sets her mind to. Things which include, with a little bit of nudging from Rachel, giving her big sister a dancing-is-my-friend spell, getting their dad to break up with STBSM, and banishing pimples from their lives once and for all.

Things don't work out exactly as planned, though, the way things tend to do when you mess with the powers that be. Just when Rachel thinks she's finally got it all--smooth skin, a hunky maybe-boyfriend, a spot in the coolest gig in school, a dad and mom that could be getting back together--things come crashing down.

BRAS & BROOMSTICKS is an absolute riot! I loved this first book in a new series by Sarah Mlynowski. Rachel and Miri make great sisters, the situations Rachel gets herself into are hilarious, and the overall feeling is that life is hard, but sometimes you just have to deal with it. ( )

Rachel is a freshman at a high school in New York City. Her (former) best friend is busy rehearsing for the big school fashion show, neither of the two boys she has a crush on even know she's alive and now she finds out that her little sister Miri is a witch! Even worse, so is their mom and apparently Rachel hasn't inherited the magic gene.

But there is a bright side -- if Rachel can just convince Miri to practice some of the spells in her new spell book, maybe her life can get better....

I enjoyed this book with it's magical twist on the typical teenage chick lit formula, sort of Jess Jordan (from Girl, 15, Charming but Insane) goes to Hogwarts. Rachel gets herself into some crazy situations, not always due to Miri's magic. One thing that I really liked about her is that she's not just a boy-obsessed girl whose main goal is to be popular. Rachel is also a math whiz (she won a trophy in math competition) and takes accelerated classes. Smart as she is though, she still gets herself into more than enough trouble!

Review by Ms. DuVall

I didn't really like it but it was ok.I would recommed this book to people who like witch craft and like to read something hilarious.I also didn't really like how her sister does magic with her shoes right in the begining chapter.But I would give it a four star rateing because it was good but not amazing like I thought it would. ( )

Bras and Broomsticks started out with 14 year-old Rachel waiting for her friend by the lockers and suddenly.... poof!- her black worn-out boots turns into the green shoes she'd seen at Bloomie's .
Mlynowski automatically grabbed the reader's attention.
With Rachel's new Knowledge on her sister and her mother's magical powers; Rachel tries to convince her 12 year-old sister Miri to help her stop the wedding between her father and her STB (Soon-to-Be) Stepmother and beyond that she convinces her sister to mix up a spell which will her the gift of dancing to get to know her crush; Raf better and with her new dancing skills she became part of the JFK Fashion Show which will automatically put her on the A-List. ( )

The first in the book and it filled me with trepidation as I don't normally read books with witches and things in it. However it shocked me. The book was a quick read and flowed very easily. One of the first YA books that I have read in a long time that was a complete page turner. These 2 girls think that Miri being a witch is the best thing in the world and turn to magic to help them in their every day lives and sometimes (most of the time) the consequences are not what they expect. I can't wait for the next one in this series.
It rated a 4 out of 5. ( )