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Prunella Bogthistle does not have one proper wart. Not even one. And on top of that, her curses never work. She’s such a failure as a bog-witch, in fact, that her beloved grandmother casts her right out of the Bottomlands. Banished Prunella teams up with thief-turned-hero Barnaby the Brave to find the Mirable Chalice, the theft of which is believed to have cursed the Uplands with a variety of maladies. Both Prunella and Barnaby harbor secret goals as they undertake their quest, but these ulterior motivations gradually take a backseat to their newfound friendship and their growing desire to free the people of the Uplands from the clutches of their evil queen. Spunky characters and surprising plot twists will keep readers laughing and turning pages. Fagan also sneaks in a powerful you-can’t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover lesson, as nothing here is what it seems. But even more important than that is the lesson she offers in finding and valuing one’s own identity, even when it confounds the expectations of well-meaning family and friends. Who wants an old wart anyway? (Fantasy. 9-12)
