The Girl and the Witch's Garden

Erin Bowman — 2020

“As enchanting as it is wise, the true magic of this secret garden story is in its unflinching, heart-wrenching exploration of grief, belonging, and inner strength. Once I stepped into the witch’s garden with Piper, I did not want to leave.” —Jessica Khoury, author of The Mystwick School of Musicraft “Piper Peavey is a protagonist all her own in a spellbinding story that has a touch of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and a dab of Circus Mirandus.” —Quinn Sosna-Spear, author of The Remarkable Inventions of Walter Mortinson “Magical and mysterious, a captivating read from start to beautiful end.” —Megan Frazer Blakemore, author of The Water Castle and The Story Web The Secret Garden meets Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children in this rich, charming middle grade adventure about a girl determined to infiltrate her grandmother’s enchanted garden with the help of some magically gifted friends. Mallory Estate is the last place twelve-year-old Piper Peavey wants to spend her summer vacation. The grounds are always cold, the garden out back is dead, a mysterious group of children call the property home, and there’s a rumor that Melena M. Mallory—the owner of the estate and Piper’s wealthy grandmother—is a witch. But when Piper’s father falls ill, Mallory Estate is exactly where she finds herself. The grand house and its garden hold many secrets—some of which may even save her father—and Piper will need to believe in herself, her new friends, and magic if she wants to unlock them before it’s too late.

Reviews

Lauren Tabor@readingthroughwonderland10

Aug 13, 2022

This was such a cute book! The cover of this was really what grabbed my attention, it looks so precious and magical. And that's exactly what it was! It was really fast-paced and kept me wanting to know more throughout the entire book. It was so fun to see the kids and what their magical affinity was and how each of them uses it. Piper and Teddy's friendship was my favorite thing about this and I wish we got more from the two of them. Their honesty with each other and their teamwork and witty banter was really adorable. One thing I didn't like the trope where the main character feels like they have to lie to their friends to get to where they need to be, it always causes all these issues that are so unnecessary. But I think this book handled it well. Since it was a middle grade it wasn't too long so the lies didn't have to go on too long and everything was resolved in a timely manner. This had some twists in it that I was pleasantly surprised about as well. Piper was also dealing with some pretty serious stuff in this book that I think was dealt with very well. I think it's important to include these kinds of things in middle-grade because so many kids go through really hard things and I think it's good to be able to relate to the things they're reading about. This was a really well done book! It reminded me of a younger version of Percy Jackson and the Olympians just in the quest and adventure vibes it gives off. I loved it! Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for letting me read an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

laura@booksandpops400

Nov 20, 2021

I thought this was a fun take on the secret garden myth. I thought the characters were super fun and really loved the setting and the house. I also really like the group of kids that we met in this read. It was a fast pace read. I though this book tackle grief and death of a parent super well and really loved that part of the read. I thought the mystery was well ploted. I just wanted more time with these characters and hope we get a book 2 to expand on the world built in this novel.