Alyssa and the Spell Garden
For ages 9+
Alyssa has lots of worries in her life with her parents separating and starting Secondary school. Finding out she’s got magic powers was the last thing she expected to happen when she went to stay with her estranged family in London!
By Alexandra Sheppard, illustrated by Bex Glendining (Faber & Faber, 2024)
This middle grade read happens to be one of my favourite Children’s fiction chapter books of the year so far. The story carried me along as if I myself was spellbound by one of Auntie Jasmine’s magical teas, for I felt peaceful, calm and looked forward to every evening reading this before bed. It feels like there’s going to be a sequel, so I’ll be looking forward to reading that very much.
The first thing that caught my eye about ‘Alyssa and the Spell Garden’ was the unmistakable style of illustrator Bex Glendining. Bex lives locally to me and in my Moon Lane days, they created an incredibly joyful and flowery window for us for New Year. Really cheered the community up! Bex has also featured in other projects you’ll be familiar with including Dapo Adeola’s ‘Hey You’. I love their graphic novel style, and usually featuring lots of vivid pinks and purples in their palette. Gorgeous!! If Bex was lending their imagination to bring YA (O.M.G.s (Oh My Gods) (Scholastic, 2019) + Friendship Never Ends (Knights Of, 2023) , author, Alexandra Sheppard’s first solo middle grade to life on the bookshelves (she had a short story featured in ‘Happy Here’ (Knights Of, 2021), then I knew I HAD to read it!! Trust!!
‘Alyssa and the Spell Garden’ is a must read story, relatable for much of our population, with themes including the transition between Primary and Secondary schools, how life changes when parents fall out of love and separate, when a child of mixed heritage has that first mind-blowing experience of exposure to roots of their ancestry, a deep sense of community and helping others, standing up for what’s right… well, relatable until you throw a few magic spells in the mix.
At the start of the story, though, Alyssa is blissfully unaware of her magical roots. Growing up in Milton Keynes meant that a busy working mum and dad never took her down to London to see her mum’s British-Jamaican side of the family. Alyssa didn’t even know she had cousins (and they’re so awesome too)!!
After finishing Year 6 and leaving her Primary school education behind forever, it’s the Summer holidays and Alyssa is sent down to stay with her Great-Auntie Jasmine, who runs a tea shop in Holloway, North London. First impressions of London are not great though with its chaos, “manky pigeons” and “mishmash”. How on earth is she going to enjoy the start of her Summer here?!
On arrival, things seem a little odd, the tea shop seems rather run down and not exactly busy. Why should she be here of all places, why isn’t she with her mum and dad trying to mend their relationship and get them back together, to rekindle what they’ve lost so their happy family of 3 can be restored? Then triggered by a sweet sight outside between a family, her emotions can’t stay inside her for one more millisecond, and, she creates a chaos she never knew she was capable of… MAGIC chaos, and the everything inside the tea shop goes flying, breaking, spilling, ripping. “Her skin was shimmering. Rainbow waves radiated from her arms and hands, dissipating into the atmosphere.”
What follows is an unravelling of Alyssa’s life as she knows it. She learns she is descended from a very magical Jamaican family, some of whom still live there (some who came to London as part of the Windrush generation) and are connected to Auntie Jasmine’s magic spell garden behind the tea shop through great tree. She has roots stretching from Jamaica to London, and what’s more she’d never eaten Jamaican food either!! Now of course, like me too, she can’t get enough of it.
We all struggle with finding fun activities for our children during the Summer holiday break, right? What if you had Silverleaf School of Plants and Potions right on your doorstep? Yes, Auntie Jasmine runs such a school and it’s open to magical and non-magical people. Now the cat’s out of the bag about Alyssa’s abilities, much to her surprise, but not so much to her new found family’s, it’s time to focus on learning all the properties and formulae of flowers in the garden to create spells; and these are spells only for good. The more the spells are used for the good of the community, the garden survives and thrives (including some seriously cute and bizarre magical creatures too).
As well as her parent’s situation, Alyssa has been feeling incredibly anxious about starting Secondary school - making new friends, fitting in. Such a common worry for so many children! Internalising her anxieties, she’s a bundle of nerves. Meet Alyssa’s fab. cousins; two Black girls: Rosalie,13, who is dyslexic (and the story does from time to time talk about her experiences and coping strategies), and Rue, 9, she/they sporting an ENBY badge (non binary) how she happily explains “It shows people I’m not completely a boy or a girl, even though I was assigned female at birth.”
What a breath of fresh air this book is! Yes, we are reading about very real life struggles for Alyssa at home, but there is an absolute joy and buzz that evaporates off the text into the reader’s senses, whether it’s the descriptions of the delicious Jamaican food, or just the banter between happy and kind children who welcome Alyssa into their lives no matter what secrets their parents and aunties have been keeping all these years. And don’t get me started on the lovely Leon, their non-magical friend who attends Silverleaf. He’s just the tonic for Alyssa, a real soul mate who just gets her and supports her along with her magical cousins.
Before I close this glowing review for a delightful book, there is one more very important plot element to mention: gentrification. For there is a mystery to solve, and the kids slowly manage to follow the clues and piece together the evidence that points to an horrific traitor in their midst. The community is rapidly in decline, shops are closing and new ones are opening overnight, ones that do not fit with the culture and feel of the place - a bougie art gallery, a dog boutique… developers are snooping around offering huge wads of cash… and time is running out for Jasmine’s Teas. The children will have to outwit more than one obvious enemy! What’s more, if the community spirit dies, so does the spell garden… OK - I’m saying no more!!
New friends, new adventures, new hope, AND I can’t wait for book 2 in the series. I also love the chapter headers featuring illustrations of different flowers from the spell garden, along with their name and properties (see below).
I invite you to read ‘Alyssa and the Spell Garden’, for it is like relaxing, healing, chicken soup (with a magical floral tea) for the soul.
Spell Garden illustrated flower guide
Angelica (for protection)
Aloe Vera (for peaceful energy)
Crab Apple (for friendship)
Calendula (for heart strength)
Cerasee (for a fever)
Dandelion Root (for divination)
Dog Blood Bush (for healing)
Dandelion (for the appetite)
Enchanter’s Nightshade (for enchantment)
Fogfruit (for weakness)
Foxglove (for breaking enchantments)
Hibiscus (for divination)
Ground Ivy (for coughs)
Gorse (for romance)
Ironwood (for positive energy)
Honeysuckle (for abundance)
Mahogany (for strength)
Ivy (for good luck)
Passionflower (for peace and calm)
Primrose (for finding treasure)
Pimento (for passion)
Rowan (for success)
Rose (for relaxation)
Rosewood (for anxiety)
Sea Fennel (for vitality)
Sorrel (for strength)
Woodruff (for victory)
Wild Petunia (for beauty)
The magic formula for a spell:
One of leaf, two of fruit, three of flower, four of root, now add some precious silvery crux-water…
Enjoy!
Praise
An enchanting and heart-lifting story of the magic of plants and community. -- Sophie Anderson
Bursts with glimmering magic - it is a wonderfully vibrant story, of community, family and self-discovery. -- Jasbinder Bilan
A delight. It's funny, heartfelt and packed full of magic. A joyful reminder to kids that magic can be found anywhere - even in a flat just off the North Circular. -- Abi Elphinstone
An utterly charming and hopeful story of family and community. -- Lizzie Huxley-Jones
A magical, cosy, spellbinding treat! -- Kieran Larwood
The perfect mix of heart and magic. A reminder of how nurturing meaningful relationships can be the key to overcoming challenges together as a community. -- Rachel Faturoti
I really enjoyed reading this magical and empowering tale. There's a great blend of real-world themes mixed with the mystical, and it was so satisfying to see how the power of community spirit can triumph against the odds. -- G M Linton
A heart warming, comforting read with a blast of magic and a touch of the Caribbean! I couldn't put Alyssa and the Spell Garden down. -- Janelle McCurdy
A truly inclusive tale of magic, community and healing. ― BookTrust
Ad - reviewed from advanced proof copy provided by the publisher
