Little Witch: Hauntings & Hexes

Little Witch: Hauntings & Hexes by Aleesah Darlison (Big Sky Publishing)

PB RRP $14.99  IBSN 9781925520576

Reviewed by Kate Simpson

Hauntings & Hexes is the second book in Aleesah Darlison’s Little Witch series, following on from Secrets & Spells. While some children may prefer to read the books in order, Hauntings and Hexes also sits well as a stand-alone novel.

Courtney is a novice witch, learning magic in her attic with the help of her late grandmother’s spell book, a talking cat and the occasional whispered message from the spirit world. When she starts high school as the new kid in town, she’s trying to fly under the radar, but the temptation to do just a little bit of magic is too strong to resist. Of course, it doesn’t help when your magic isn’t always completely reliable.

To make matters worse, Courtney’s deceased grandmother had a (well-deserved) reputation in town as a witch, and not everybody was happy about it. Will Courtney have enemies from the outset?

Growing up is all about making mistakes, but when you’re a witch in training, your mistakes can have some pretty serious consequences and Courtney has accidentally unleashed a mischievous spirit on her village. Will she be able to save her new home or could the consequences be more serious?

The Little Witch series, with its themes of magic, friendship and adventure is sure to appeal to the tween crowd, and independent readers aged 8 to 11 will likely make short work of this easy-to-read, 144-page novel. Hopefully Aleesah Darlison will magic up a few more installments in this fun new series.