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“Death by sourdough starter. Not a good way to go.��

Disclaimer: I don’t bake (unless burning something to a crisp can be considered baking), and apparently neither does T. Kingfisher �� but she “bought a Kitchenaid mixer and began grimly following recipes�� for the research purpose �� and that’s some respectable admiration-worthy dedication. All to write a kids book about a young wizard who can magic bread �� featuring carnivorous sourdough starter and feisty militarized gingerbread man cookie.

I don’t even care about pastries, but think I may sell my soul for a freshly baked sweet bun right now.

“The great wizards, the magi that serve the Duchess, they can throw fireballs around or rip mountains out of the earth, heal the dying, turn lead into gold. Me, I can turn flour and yeast into tasty bread, on a good day. And occasionally make carnivorous sourdough starters.��

Mona is fourteen, and has what she sees as a very minor wizarding talent �� her skills are, as she describes, mostly limited to “making bread rise and keeping the pastry dough from sticking together��, and at times animating cookies and making gingerbread men dance �� and therefore is quite unprepared when her skills are needed to save the city. It all starts with a dead body in the bakery �� “I haven’t seen a lot of dead bodies in my life—I’m only fourteen, and baking’s not exactly a high-mortality profession�� �� and from there eventually leads to some life-or-death stakes for the entire city-state. Just like that.

“You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a cookie look smug.��

Mona is a very reluctant hero, wanting “to make really good sourdough and muffins and not get messed up with assassins and politics�� �� and she would much rather not have to do anything heroic because really, that’s something required of adults. Kids should not be saving the world and fixing mistakes of careless adults, and yet sometimes life does not care what you think, and adults make stupid choices and let you down �� even if you are young and careful and try your best to be sensible and follow the rules. Sometimes you have to rise up to a challenge when those in charge have failed in their responsibilities, and hope that you are not alone.

“Hero. It should never have come down to me. It was miserably unfair that it had come to me and Spindle. There were grown-ups who should have stopped it. The Duchess should have found her courage and gone to the guards. The guards should have warned the Duchess. The Council, whoever they were, should have made sure the Duchess knew about the proclamations. The Duchess should have had people on the street who reported back to her. Everyone had failed at every step and now Spindle and I were heroes because of it.��

It’s a pretty young story, with some inconsistencies and contradictions that can annoy an adult reader, but I’m pretty sure would not bother a child in the slightest. It’s fun and snappy and the gingerbread cookie and Bob the sourdough starter steal every scene they are in. (And no, until I read this book, I did not have much of an idea of what exactly a sourdough starter is. It’s a bucket of gloopy yeast stuff, in case you want to know. In this case, it also eats rats, fish and maybe - if it’s really pissed off - invading soldiers.)

I just wish that the book had stuck to a smaller story - more minor magic, more sourdough starter and animated cookies, less of full-scale enemy invasion and magical powerhouse displays. I think Kingfisher is at her best when she sticks to quieter, smaller stories, the ones that do not involve medals for bravery handed out in the end.

“When you’re different, even just a little different, even in a way that people can’t see, you like to know that people in power won’t judge you for it.��

But I did love that at fourteen, Mona is still basically a kid, with young (and snarky) voice and zero contamination with romance that seems to plague so many books aimed at the youngsters. We have our kids grow up too fast in stories, and although Mona does a fair bit of this given the responsibilities thrust upon her, I love that in the end she’s still a kid at heart.

3.5 stars that I’m perfectly fine rounding up.

Now pass me a slice of cake, please.

—�Ĕ�Ĕ�Ĕ�Ĕ�Ĕ���
EDIT: Aaaaaand �� it won Andre Norton Award a.k.a. Baby Nebula!!!!!

EDIT # 2: And it also won Lodestar Award which I choose to view as a Baby Hugo.
—�Ĕ�Ĕ�Ĕ�Ĕ�Ĕ���

My Hugo and Nebula Awards Reading Project 2021: /review/show...