The Witch of Woodland

April 3, 2023
In Atlanta, a Jewish witchcraft enthusiast drafts a book about her 13th year, blending mystical components with problems of ordinary life. Zipporah Chava McConnell’s intermarried family are what Zippy thinks of as “like… part-time Jews,” so she’s taken aback when her mother announces that it’s time to prepare for her bat mitzvah. The family attends synagogue for the High Holidays each year, but Zippy doesn’t feel like she fits in, and she’s not sure about “the whole faith-y part.” Her real love is witchcraft, and she’s long had an affinity for creating spells. But belief systems and incantations start intertwining when Zippy’s Torah reading mentions a sorceress, and they really intermingle when her speaking a Hebrew word accidentally summons a winged being, whom she calls Miriam. Zippy tries to help Miriam recover her memories and return to wherever she’s from—the company’s nice, too, since Zippy and best friend Bea aren’t talking. Structuring the novel as Zippy’s accounting of the strange events, Snyder (Endlessly Ever After) leans into the tween’s candid, fourth-wall-breaking narration to interrogate interpersonal difficulties and mysteries of faith, resulting in an evolving portrait of a nearly 13-year-old growing up before her own eyes. Ages 8–12. Agent: Tina Dubois, ICM Partners.

April 15, 2023
Grades 4-7 Zipporah Chava McConnell--aka Zippy--is going to tell you the story of what happened during the fall of seventh grade, and you need to understand that this story is ""the truth."" Hers is a tale of strained friendship, questioning faith, and personal evolution--not to mention ""The Witch Thing." Zippy's family are "part-time Jews," but she is a full-blown witch, and, during the High Holy Days, 12-year-old Zippy conjures and befriends a winged girl with whom Zippy shares a magical but dangerous connection. Zippy's discontented self-confidence and emotional journey meld the burgeoning independence seen in Snyder's My Jasper June (2019) with the discomfort of the unknown in Orphan Island (2017). Here she offers the Jewish fantasy she wishes she had in her youth, proffering Zippy's as one of limitless pathways through Judaism. Even with this aim, Snyder ensures readers of all beliefs will feel welcome by the novel's animated tone and expressive analogies. This lively middle-grade read offers a spirited exploration of the strength required to know and stay true to oneself in adolescence.

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May 1, 2023
Becoming a bat mitzvah is not something Zipporah "Zippy" Chava McConnell had ever considered. Now almost thirteen, she's surprised by her mom's insistence that she at least give tutoring with Rabbi Dan a try. Reluctant at first, Zippy, a self-proclaimed witch ("Spells spring from me. And with them, I can handle the world"), becomes interested after discovering a link to the supernatural -- and then a girl with mysterious abilities appears in the woods. In a generally lighthearted, self-aware narration, Zippy describes investigating the girl's identity; exploring Judaism (with a few textual Hebrew errors); and feuding with her best friend, among others. Occasional direct address ("Okay, I don't want to sound obnoxious, but wasn't that good? Didn't that sound like something from a real book?") and explanation ("now we've come to the part in the story where I need to tell you a little more about the Torah") keep readers engaged in Zippy's quest for answers. Though some of those necessarily remain ambiguous, the protagonist -- and readers -- can appreciate the wisdom of Rabbi Dan: "The world is full of questions, things we'll never be certain of...but for me, the journey, the search for answers, is as satisfying as the answers themselves. Questions can be beautiful. Mysteries can bind us to each other." Elissa Gershowitz

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2023
A 13-year-old witch just wants things to stay the way they are, so who needs a bat mitzvah? Zippy--Zipporah Chava McConnell--doesn't feel very Jewish. Her parents take her to synagogue for the High Holidays and halfheartedly follow Passover, but mostly they're just an everyday, White, American family living in Atlanta. What's special about Zippy is that she's a witch. She collects items that make her feel witchy: black candles, birds' eggs, a blue penny. She makes up spells, mantras that settle her anxiety or vanish pimples. Maybe Judaism itself is a little witchy, too. Sure, Zippy's bat mitzvah parsha--the Torah reading she will recite--says "Thou shalt not tolerate a sorceress to live," but even so, the Hebrew letters feel so...magical. And has Zippy somehow summoned a Jewish angel? Or maybe a dybbuk? How has she learned Hebrew overnight, and why does she suddenly know how to play the piano? Zippy dips her toe into the Jewish esoteric, finding parts that seem comfortably familiar to her homegrown occult witchcraft. But the creature Zippy has summoned is hurting her. Zippy's awkwardness, from her fights with her best friend to the way she dabbles in both Judaism and witchcraft, is painfully, believably genuine. And as the rabbi teaches her, her struggles with Judaism and her attempts to make it fit into her witchiness are exemplars of Jewish learning. Authentically uncomfortable, a well-done modern attempt to explore self and community. (Fantasy. 9-12)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2023
Becoming a bat mitzvah is not something Zipporah "Zippy" Chava McConnell had ever considered. Now almost thirteen, she's surprised by her mom's insistence that she at least give tutoring with Rabbi Dan a try. Reluctant at first, Zippy, a self-proclaimed witch ("Spells spring from me. And with them, I can handle the world"), becomes interested after discovering a link to the supernatural -- and then a girl with mysterious abilities appears in the woods. In a generally lighthearted, self-aware narration, Zippy describes investigating the girl's identity; exploring Judaism (with a few textual Hebrew errors); and feuding with her best friend, among others. Occasional direct address ("Okay, I don't want to sound obnoxious, but wasn't that good? Didn't that sound like something from a real book?") and explanation ("now we've come to the part in the story where I need to tell you a little more about the Torah") keep readers engaged in Zippy's quest for answers. Though some of those necessarily remain ambiguous, the protagonist -- and readers -- can appreciate the wisdom of Rabbi Dan: "The world is full of questions, things we'll never be certain of...but for me, the journey, the search for answers, is as satisfying as the answers themselves. Questions can be beautiful. Mysteries can bind us to each other."

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)