{"id":37173,"date":"2020-02-10T22:47:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T02:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37173"},"modified":"2020-02-10T22:47:54","modified_gmt":"2020-02-11T02:47:54","slug":"review-of-love-sugar-magic-a-dash-of-trouble-by-anna-meriano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37173","title":{"rendered":"Review of Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble, by Anna Meriano"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Love Sugar Magic<\/p>\n

A Dash of Trouble<\/em><\/p>\n

by Anna Meriano<\/p>\n

Walden Pond Press (HarperCollins), 2018. 310 pages.
\nReview written January 30, 2018.
\n2018 Cybils Finalist, Elementary\/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction<\/a><\/p>\n

A Dash of Trouble<\/em> begins a new series about Leonora Logro\u00f1os, a sixth-grader who learns that she\u2019s from a family of brujas<\/em>. The women in her family can do magic, and they can put magic into the things they bake.<\/p>\n

But Leo only finds this out by being sneaky. She\u2019s the youngest, and the whole family seems to be keeping secrets from her, working at their Mam\u00e1\u2019s bakery during the big festival on the Day of the Dead. She\u2019s tired of everyone leaving her out. She\u2019s not a baby, after all!<\/p>\n

And when Leo\u2019s best friend gets her feelings hurt by a boy who lives next door, Leo thinks this is a perfect time to use magic to help the situation.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s where she gets into a dash of trouble.<\/p>\n

There were some things that annoyed me about this book \u2013 mostly, all of Leo\u2019s sneaking. But when I think about it more, I remember how I subverted the early bedtime my mother tried to impose when I was in sixth grade. (It was No Fair in comparison with how late my two older siblings got to stay up.) So I have to give her some sympathy. Even if I was wanting to shake her at times during the story.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of Spanish language used in the book \u2013 the old family recipe book is written in Spanish \u2013 but Leo doesn\u2019t speak Spanish, either, so what\u2019s mystifying to me is also mystifying to her. So I think it enhances the book. (Readers who do understand Spanish will enjoy having that edge.)<\/p>\n

This is a fun and light-hearted story about Leo finding out she\u2019s got a heritage of magic \u2013 but finding out a little earlier than her family intended. The book is labelled \u201cBook One,\u201d so I think Leo\u2019s going to learn more about magic.<\/p>\n

harpercollinschildrens.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/love_sugar_magic.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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