Stazy and the Magic List
Stazy and the Magic List
Stazy
Abuelita and I … we’re witches. You know, witches? Potions and spells and … hocus-pocus. That’s us.
On that day six months ago, I read the words in that spell book and did my clumsy incantation and wham! Dinner was served.
It wasn’t until later that I realized that Abuelita could have done the whole thing herself, of course, but she loved cooking the regular way, the fun and the mess and the surprises. And because she respected my dad’s decision, she never used spells when any of us were around. Until she knew about me.
That day, as we ignored the food spread so beautifully on the table, she talked about a part of me that was a complete mystery. It was so weird, like two parts of me shaking hands for the first time.
She told me that her family had always been witches; that she’d been casting spells since she was a kid, like her parents and siblings. I didn’t even have to ask if they were good spells or not. I knew what kind of person she was.
On a weekend visit to her grandmother’s house, Stazy reads out a spell she discovers in an old book and suddenly finds out that, like many other people in her family, she is a witch. Her dad never told her mother about having witches in the family, and, when Stazy’s mother finds out, she ends the marriage. Stazy finds herself living in entirely new and uncomfortable circumstances with her mother in the community where her mother grew up. Stazy has had to leave behind their large, spacious house, her school and friends, and her dad. Stazy’s only sibling, her brother, has gone off to college, leaving Stazy alone, too. Stazy’s life feels like it belongs to a stranger.
On the first day at her new school, Stazy, along with three other girls, is singled out to attend a special Skills class. Stazy knows this placement is because she has dyslexia. She wonders what challenges the other girls are dealing with and soon discovers that Hali is hearing impaired, Faye has ADHA, and Rena has severe asthma and misses a lot of school. They attend the special class to get extra help so that they can be successful in their regular classroom. The other three girls are best friends and have been attending the Skills class together for years. They are not eager to have a fourth join them, and Stazy feels left out. Slowly, one of the other girls begins to warm to Stazy, but it isn’t until each girl reveals that she, too has a special secret, that the girls become a foursome of best friends. Once Stazy reveals to the little group that she is a witch and that she must find several strange items on a list before she can become a full witch, the girls pitch in to help Stazy realize her dream. The story’s coming to a climax on Halloween is very fitting for a book about a young witch.
This entertaining tale, told from each of the girls’ perspectives in alternating passages, gives readers glimpses into each character’s feelings, personality, and family situation. The story follows the girls as they navigate school and life, each with a magical power that they have all kept secret over the years. One girl is a mermaid, another is a fairy, one is a witch and the last is an angel. Stazy and the Magic List is an intriguing story that entwines fantasy and reality into an amusing and fast-paced story. I am sure that girls with physical challenges – and other readers as well - will enjoy reading the story and feeling empowered as they follow the adventures of Stazy and her friends.
Mary Harelkin Bishop is the author of the “Tunnels of Moose Jaw Adventure” series as well as many other books, including her Reconciliation books, Mistasinîy: Buffalo Rubbing Stone and Skye Bird and the Eagle Feather. Mary can be found on her website – maryhbishop.ca, or Facebook and via video clips on her YouTube channel.