A Wizard's Guide To Defensive Baking

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I squeezed my eyes shut - it was going to be a cold bright pain, I just knew it, and then I was going to die, and that would be the end of a bread wizard named Mona who just wanted to make really good sourdough and muffins and not get messed up with assassins and politics and - The magic in A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking is delightful. Just take a look at the cover with that aggressive little gingerbread man waving a knife. And he is the least thing our fourteen year old magician dreams up when asked to defend her whole town from flesh eating savages. Her magic lies in baking so her defenses range from angry gingerbread men, through giant, bread golems to a carnivorous sourdough starter called Bob.

It all starts when Mona discovers a dead body in their bakery. Mona is a wizard that works with bread. Yep, bread. That's it - just bread. And although this is considered minor magic, she still gets accused of the murder solely because she is a wizard. It doesn't take long before she learns there is a growing threat that magicas like her are facing in the city-state and while most magical individuals leave (or are killed), Mona soon finds herself in the unenviable position of having to stand-up and fight against the enemy.Someone is killing magic folk, and suddenly it's up to Mona to figure out who's doing it, AND why . . .before she turns out to be the next victim. She just needs to keep in mind that in magic, creativity is as important as knowledge. He stopped there, because if he kept talking, he had to ask a fourteen-year-old girl to come to the front lines of a battle, and he hated it and he knew he had to do it, and I knew I had to come because somebody had to tell the golems what to do. This is a lot to not actually say.” of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher 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.”

He doesn’t seem to mind me taking bits to make bread, and it’s still the best sourdough in town. We just don’t tell anybody about the eating-rats thing.” 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. It is nearly impossibly to be sad when eating a blueberry muffin. I'm pretty sure that's a scientific fact.”Currently in Riverb

Fortunately, the proof is in the baking, and the baking, indeed, was really good. YA, light magical effects (at first), and a real love of baking and making her gingerbread men. So far, so good, but with the evil wizard hunting down ALL the mages, no matter how quirky, it becomes a matter of survival. Highly recommend if you are looking for a light, fun read with a comedic touch. It's a middle grade story, but one that someone at any age could enjoy. But it never sugarcoats the fact that the situation is beyond dire – and that war is very definitely hell. And that sometimes all it takes is just one horse rider of the apocalypse to bring that fact home.One morning, Mona finds a dead body in the bakery and from that point on, her life is completely turned upside down. I don’t even care about pastries, but think I may sell my soul for a freshly baked sweet bun right now.

But I shouldn’t have had to do any of it. There should have been so many grown-ups who should have fixed things before it got down to me and Spindle. It doesn’t make you a hero just because everybody else didn’t do their job.” This was a damned delight. What a wonderful, fantastic story—I think it's going to be a new favorite. She thinks I’m a hero,” I said, when the silence had stretched out. “But I shouldn’t have had to do any of it. There should have been so many grown-ups who should have fixed things before it got down to me and Spindle. It doesn’t make you a hero just because everybody else didn’t do their job.”If you have ever prepared for a siege in two days, then you know what the next few days were like. If you haven't, then you probably don't. Well...a big formal wedding is about the same (and because we do cakes, I've been on the periphery of a few), except that if things go wrong in a siege you'll all die horribly, and in formal weddings, the stakes are much higher.”