Review Detail

The Witching Wind is a middle-grade magical realism novel based around a magical wind that blows in with a monarch butterfly as the only warning to batten down the hatches. The story follows two girls, one who is disabled and a foster child, the other who is just trying to navigate entry into middle school and the loss of friendships. The representation in this book will impact the students who read it as well as the adults who share it with them. The Witching Wind touches on all the things middle school-aged children struggle with bullying, body shaming, missing people, strokes, loss of grandparents, older siblings moving on, and so much more. One thing that irked me was the lack of closure for Beanie and her sister Grayson; Grayson spends the whole novel waiting for her older sister to come and be a family with her, and I get the age difference and wanting not to have the responsibility of raising a younger disabled sister from how Grayson talked about the love and connection the two sisters had I expected a final conversation from Beanie explaining her side of the story. The Witching Wind will be a great read to share when it releases in September 2024.