WITCH WARS

A girl dives down a drainpipe to discover a world of witches, and everybody there thinks she’s one too.

Tiga is sure she isn’t a witch—she doesn’t even know any spells!—but she finds that against her will someone has entered her into the Witch Wars annual contest, and if she doesn’t win she’ll have to go back to the surface world “above the pipes.” Up there she has an awful life with the horrible Miss Heks, who feeds her only water flavored with moldy cheese. But Fran, a tiny fairy, has convinced her to descend through the sink to the wonderful Ritzy City in the land of Sinkville, where Tiga wishes to remain forever. She soon meets Peggy Pigwiggle, a fellow Witch Wars contestant who becomes her friend, in contrast to another competitor, the rather nasty Felicity Bat, who cheats. Fortunately the contest does not involve actual combat. Instead the contestants solve riddles to eliminate their opponents. Pounder’s comic romp froths with eccentric characters and whimsical worldbuilding, while Anderson contributes abundant charming drawings. Nobody’s ever in any real danger, although Tiga, Fran, and Peggy certainly find themselves in some difficult situations. Fun comes from solving their problems. And can Tiga possibly win? Maybe so and maybe not, but readers can be sure everything will come out all right.

A sweet little magical tale with at least one sequel on the way.