Name: A Wolf for a Spell
ISBN: 9780593121658

Karah Sutton

The witch Baba Yaga and a wolf switch bodies and form an unlikely alliance to save the forest from an evil tsar.

A Wolf for a Spell

An enchanting story inspired by Baba Yaga and Eastern European folklore. Magical forest atmosphere and witchy magic. Different characters have to learn to overcome fears of different groups or creatures in order to face a threat together. Taking a chance to trust someone you don't understand. So great and spoke so well to me even as an adult. The magic and atmosphere gave me the wonder and joy I love in these stories.

Cheryl Hedlund

Candyce Kirk

A Wolf for a Spell was my first time reading a Baba Yaga retelling and I highly enjoyed this book. It's clear this book has been influence by Russian fairy tales and I loved how everything comes together. Karah Sutton created a world I really enjoyed and could really see as I was reading the book. I really appreciated the 3 POVs in this story. For me it really help keep the story going and me wondering how they were all going to come together.

In A Wolf for a Spell we follow Zima (a wolf), Nadya and the witch Baba Yaga. All three of these characters are stronger than they realize and plan on fighting for what they believe in. None of them plan on sitting around doing nothing. My favorite thing about middle grade books are the lessons we often find in them. I really believe A Wolf for a Spell shows us to believe in ourselves and family isn't always blood. In the end our main characters come together to fight evil and it shows that not all is what it seems. Wolves, witches and humans can come together to make everything right.

For me A Wolf for a Spell was a magical adventure that I'll definitely revisit in the future. I really hope Karah Sutton writes more magical middle grade books. Her writing style and imagination made this book a great read. Add some really nice illustrations throughout this book and I was a happy bookworm. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more books by this author.

Nickie Mohler

I love Baba Yaga stories, and this one is fantastic! Definitely one of my favorite middle grades. I loved the characters and the message of this book. And the cover is so beautiful. 
I have already ordered a finished copy.

I received a copy from Net Galley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Melea Mullican

Heather Killeen

Rating: 4/5 grumpy ravens

Format: E-book/Audiobook. I’d like to thank Karah Sutton and Random House Children’s for a copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review! I went back and forth with the ebook and audiobook while reading.

To sum up: 
In this is a reimagining of Baba Yaga, a wolf makes an unlikely bargain with the witch to save her brother. This bargain has a price, however, which requires the wolf, Zima, and Baba Yaga to switch physical forms temporarily. This leaves Zima in a position she never thought she would find herself in, but she quickly becomes involved in a quest to save her pack and to save the forest she lives in. Woven through this tale, Baba Yaga attempts to fix an old mistake, and protect a boy that saved her in the forest. Lastly, this is also the tale of a young girl in the village, Nadya, who just wants to run away from the orphanage she grew up in, but her best friend Katarina, and the Tsar’s betrothed, has promised her a place in the palace if she can behave herself (easier said than done!). When Katarina falls ill before her wedding, Nadya is determined to figure out what has happened to her friend and nurse her back to health. These stories are woven together so that by the end, all of them will be needed in order to save Baba Yaga’s magic and to restore peace between the forest and humankind. 

Review: 
This was such a sweet and whimsical story. The POVs were rich, funny, and unique, and the way that they all became woven together in the plot was beautiful! I loved how the story unfolded and how the characters came together. The setting was also richly detailed and beautifully rendered. I felt like I was being told this tale at a fireside as snow fell outside! Lastly, I loved the themes in this book, the search for belonging, standing up for your sense of home and family, new unlikely friendships, and confronting old prejudices and fear. 

Overall, I thought this was a really sweet and engaging tale! I think all ages would enjoy this one (MG-adult) and it would be a fun one to read as a family.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon meets Pax in this fantastical tale of a wolf who forms an unlikely alliance with Baba Yaga to save the forest from a wicked tsar. Since she was a pup, Zima has been taught to fear humans--especially witches--but when her family is threatened, she has no choice but to seek help from the witch Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga never does magic for free, but it just so happens that she needs a wolf's keen nose for a secret plan she's brewing . . . Before Zima knows what's happening, the witch has cast a switching spell and run off into the woods, while Zima is left behind in Baba Yaga's hut--and Baba Yaga's body! Meanwhile, a young village girl named Nadya is also seeking the witch's help, and when she meets Zima (in Baba Yaga's form), they discover that they face a common enemy. With danger closing in, Zima must unite the wolves, the witches and the villagers against an evil that threatens them all. "Karah Sutton has crafted a vivid and rollicking adventure that proves a wolf doesn't have to be big or bad to win the day!" --Rosanne Parry, New York Times bestselling author of A Wolf Called Wander

A Wolf for a Spell

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