The School for Wicked Witches by Will Taylor

What worked:

Ava is a sympathetic character following her epic failure when trying to enter the West Oz Witch Academy, or WOW. Her magic affects water and plants but performing her magic near her home in the desert is drastically different from the abundant water found in the school. She’s overwhelmed during her trial performance which the teachers interpret as evil magic. Readers will root for Ava after she’s dumped into the Wicked Wagon and sent to the School for Wicked Witches (the secret name is Swickwit). Ava has mixed feelings upon her arrival but she’s determined to prove her goodness and return to WOW.

Swickwit is not at all what Ava expects or what the synopsis implies. Most witches perceive the school as a punishment with severe, strict rules for the wicked witches to follow. However, Swickwit views them as misunderstood and the teachers try to help the “wicked” witches master their unique, special abilities. Ava begins to feel more comfortable with her powers and she even learns to perform other kinds of magic. Because the school for evil witches is not what the rest of the world expects, all students are confined to the school grounds until they can be trusted to keep the secret. This typically takes about seven years so some readers might think Swickwit sounds like a prison.

Ava is caught in a difficult situation when she first meets her new roommate. Tinabella insists her trial to attend the North Oz Witch Academy was sabotaged and she’ll stop at nothing to get back and punish the responsible people. Ava quickly agrees to team up with her but it always feels like she’s following Tinabella’s lead. The other Swickwit students look down on Ava because she’s from the West so she’s not able to make any other friends. There’s one excluded boy who’s repeating his first year at Swickwit for the third time and readers will probably predict that Ava will eventually join up with him.

What didn’t work as well:

Ava is determined to get back to WOW even though Swickwit is a better fit for her. She doesn’t share much thought as to how she plans to get accepted into the school for good witches even if she can find some way to get there. Her resolve makes sense early on but the thinking is less logical as the story moves along. This character is forced to think about the bigger picture when the plot arrives at the climax.

The final verdict:

Swickwit is a curious setting due to its secrets and methods for handling “evil” witches. It creates unexpected problems for the characters and their unique abilities are both useful and potentially terrifying. Overall, the book should appeal to amusing witch lovers and I recommend you give it a shot.