Like a Curse
by Elle McNicoll
Intermediate    Random    304 pp.
10/24    9780593649527    $17.99
e-book ed.  9780593649541    $10.99

Ramya (Like a Charm, rev. 11/23) has been sent to Loch Ness to study witchcraft with her aunt, but when her cousin Marley arrives, they learn that Portia, a siren who previously broke up Ramya’s family, has taken over the city and is ruling it with her persuasive voice. Told to let the adults handle it, Ramya nonetheless sneaks out at night with Marley to investigate reports of fae in the area and discovers new friends, including a dragon that can carry the cousins to Edinburgh to check on the city under Portia’s rule. They also encounter a menacing creature that can mimic anything: if Portia were to project her magical voice from the mimic’s impersonations, she would be almost unstoppable. One strength of the narrative is McNicoll’s championing of friendship, which surfaces in several subplots, and an even greater feature is the way she weaves Ramya’s dyspraxia into the story line: the condition makes Ramya clumsy and inarticulate at times, but constantly being underestimated gives her a chip on her shoulder that affects the ways she interacts with other characters. Though her stubbornness may be a great asset, she has to overcome her attitude block before she can succeed. Bucking the trend of middle-grade adventure stories, in this one the adults handle the problems so that the kids don’t have to—but young readers will still find lots to identify with in this exciting, imaginative novel.

From the ">January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.