A Newbery Honor Book

An unpopular girl befriends a fellow misfit who claims to be a witch in this funny coming-of-age middle grade novel from E.L. Konigsburg, the Newbery Medal–winning author of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Elizabeth is an only child, new in town, and the shortest kid in her fifth grade class. She’s also pretty lonely, until she meets Jennifer. Jennifer is…well, different. She’s read Macbeth. She never wears jeans or shorts. She never says “please” or “thank you.” And she says she is a witch.

It’s not always easy being friends with a witch, but it’s never boring. At first an apprentice and then a journeyman witch, Elizabeth learns to eat raw eggs and how to cast small spells. And she and Jennifer collaborate on cooking up an ointment that will enable them to fly. That’s when a marvelous toad, Hilary Ezra, enters their lives…and trouble starts to brew.