Marti Dumas

This story was delightful and entertaining. I very much enjoyed it. It was a quick, fun, cute, and easy read. I enjoyed and got something out of it, but it would be a lot more enjoyable for a 12 yr old/Middle Grader. My 11-year-old loved it, especially with the part and talk of make-up and YouTube since Hasani has a YouTube channel with make-up tutorials and such. This is also about her figuring out who she is with her magic that she has to learn about and how to control and use it. There's show more also family drama with her parents being separated and working through the family dynamics and where she fits with that.
This is one that I was surprised by how lighthearted and great it was. I am looking forward to more with this series and hearing more about Hasani, her family, and friends with their adventures with the charm school and whatnot. Make sure to pick this one up and check it out. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Abrams Kids/Amulet Books for letting me read and review this wonderful book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. show less

I honestly don't know how I feel about this book -- positive about Black girl magic, delighted by the kittens and the botanical theme and the sharing fire. I also think it's very original, which I love. And the girls who love algebra and coding is a beautiful thing. I am somewhat ambivalent about the tech/influencer side of things, myself, but I also kind of love the messaging that gets shared about using social media to share kindness and how a whole crew of people band together to help show more when things go wrong. The finishing school aspect is the weirdest part to wrap my head around-- I still don't understand why they are trying not to use magic, or how the magical system really works, or why they are all about weaponizing manners -- that's definitely a thing, but it feels a lot like teaching young girls to be manipulators and that's not really great. Also there were a lot of the friendship dynamics that just didn't really ring true for me. I suspect this will be wildly popular for its intended audience. show less

What an odd book -- it's weirdly charming, but also very confusing. Jaden's a kindergartener, but there is some significantly elevated vocabulary in this book and he reads/ looks like an older kid. On the other hand, the quirkiness is appealing, and the illustrations are great. I enjoyed it, I'm just not sure which kids to recommend it to.

I loved Channie Waites, the narrator. Channie did a great job of differentiating the voices making it easy to tell who was speaking. Latoya is a lot for Hasani to deal with and Channie did a great job of making her voice grating. Hasani's voice is smooth and relaxing, even when she is freaking out. I hope Channie Waites does the narration for book 2.

The book was great! Marti Dumas did a great job of encompassing all of the struggles that 12 and 13 year olds face on a daily basis - making show more friends, social anxiety, bullying, divorce, trying to fit in, and more, all while telling a story that makes you want to keep reading. I am truly looking forward to book #2 as Hasani possibly learns more about her magic and herself. show less