Tuesday, June 17, 2014

A Snicker Of Magic by: Natalie Lloyd

This is a Spindiddly book!  What is spindiddly?  It is a word created by Felicity Pickle that means awesome!  A Snicker of Magic is the first novel by Natalie Lloyd.  I just finished it today and had to share it with you.

This is a story about the Pickle family.  Felicity, her mom, sister and their dog Biscuit move around the country never staying in any city for very long.  When they enter the town of Midnight Gulch, Tennessee Felicity feels that it is a magical place and maybe they can finally be home.  It is in Midnight Gulch that Felicity meets her aunt Cleo and learns about the magic that used to be all over the town.  The magic disappeared when the brothers Threadbare held a duel. The brother who lost the duel was banished and with that the magic ended.  There are a few in the town that still believe there is some magic left, especially the do-gooder "Beedle".

Felicity has a bit of magic herself.  She sees words everywhere and with these words she creates poems that help her little sister face her fears.  When Felicity's teacher tells the class they are going to hold a duel, showcasing talents of the students at their school, Felicity feels it just might be just the thing that will keep her family in Midnight Gulch.  However, Felicity is afraid to talk in front of crowds.  She learns that "words matter more than you know" and because Felicity loves Midnight Gulch, she is determined to do what she can to stay.  She finally has a best friend, she feels at home and she does not want to leave.  She learns that she is a distant relative to the Threadbare brother who was banished and thinks that is the reason why her mom likes to move around so often.  Perhaps at the school duel Felicity can break what she calls the "family curse", that of being a wanderer, never settling down in a town.

In Midnight Gulch there is an ice-cream factory where they make 45 marvelous and mysterious flavors of ice cream.  Some of the flavors are unique, such as cake, bacon, Chocolate Chip Pork Rind, pancake and blackberry sunrise.  When you eat blackberry sunrise, you recall memories -- some good and some bad.  Felicity is afraid to taste the blackberry sunrise ice cream until she learns a secret "you can choose to replace a bad memory with something good.  You can choose to think of the good parts".

Can the ice cream help Felicity break the curse? Can she learn to share her words with others?  Will she get to stay in Midnight Gulch?  You will love this story and the characters will stay with you forever.

I hope when you finish reading this story you will discover what your own magic is and share it with others.  Now go and enjoy your favorite flavor of ice cream!  Perhaps you can spread some Beedle magic as well!

Happy Daily Reading
Deanna

No comments:

Post a Comment