Wicked Marigold
by Caroline Carlson
Intermediate    Candlewick    256 pp.
7/24    9781536230499    $17.99
e-book ed.  9781536237573    $17.99

Eleven-year-old Princess Marigold has grown up in the shadow of her perfect older sister, Rosalind, who was abducted by a wizard long before Marigold was born. When Rosalind miraculously finds her way home, Marigold is ambivalent and rashly decides that she’s wicked and doesn’t belong in the kingdom. She runs away to a place where she can embrace her so-called wickedness: the fortress of the wizard who held Rosalind captive for fifteen years. She can stay with Wizard Torville and his imp, Pettifog, if she passes a test to prove that she’s evil: “I’ll give you seven days to do something so vile that even an imp can’t deny your wicked nature.” Hijinks ensue (including Marigold mistakenly turning Torville into a sentient blob). When a pair of wizards plots to destroy a peace treaty among the kingdoms, Marigold must reckon with what it really means to be wicked. What began as sisterly revenge becomes part of a complicated web of spells that could undo the Cacophonous Kingdoms altogether. Carlson’s deftly told story tackles questions of good versus evil and sibling bonds with a cast of oddball creatures and lots of humor. Clever, quirky, and cozy.

From the July/August 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.