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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Haydu, Corey Ann

One Jar of Magic

352 pp. | HarperCollins/Tegen | February, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-0-06-268985-6 $16.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-06-268986-3 $9.99
(2) 4-6 Magic is a physical object in Haydu's (Hand-Me-Down Magic, rev. 7/20) latest middle-grade novel, and the residents of the town of Belling Bright turn out to capture it in jars every New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, Rose Alice Anders turns twelve, the age when residents are allowed to capture magic, and her famous father, known for capturing more magic than anyone else, is certain that she has a special connection to it, just as he does. But when Rose ends New Year's Day having filled just a single jar--and that only because of her older brother's help--she has to deal with her father's severe disappointment, which she's spent most of her life deflecting. As Rose watches her friends make themselves beautiful and popular with their new supplies of magic, she starts to reevaluate magic's importance as well as her relationship with her father. Readers who pick up on the emotional abuse from the book's early pages ("when Dad's the one in charge, you don't say no"; "he doesn't love when we do anything he doesn't do") may find Rose's gradual realization a tad slow, but the novel will appeal to those who enjoy a quiet, emotion-driven fantasy.
Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

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