WART

Myers really raids the thematic cupboard for this semi-serious tale of an eighth-grader who becomes convinced that his widowed dad and little sister have fallen under the spell of a beautiful witch. Stewart aspires to be popular at school, even at the price of severing ties with long-time friends Ham and Rachel. He also doesn’t want his father to remarry—not comfortable librarian Martha, and especially not the (could it be literally?) bewitching new art teacher Wanda Gibbs, just arrived in town with her decidedly strange young son Ozgood. Is she, or isn’t she? What with Stewart suddenly acquiring almost supernatural basketball skills and also hooking up with a hot classmate right after Mrs. Gibbs gives him a bottle of homemade cologne, with Stu’s normally mulish sister Georgia suddenly eager to please whenever she’s in the room and with Ozgood repeatedly seeming to transform into a large frog, the deck is carefully stacked to keep the issue in doubt. The plot thickens with the revelation that Martha and Wanda are actually old friends, and sets nicely at the end with a small twist, a wedding and some needed mending of fences. Leaving it to readers to make up their own minds about Mrs. Gibbs, the author offers a coming-of-age tale rich in Disney Channel potential. (Fiction. 11-13)