Review and Educators’ Guide!: The Witch of Woodland by Laurel Snyder

The Witch of Woodland
Author: Laurel Snyder
Published: May 16th, 2023 by Walden Pond Press

Summary: Laurel Snyder, author of Orphan Island, returns with a story of one girl’s quest to answer the seemingly unanswerable questions about what makes us who we are.

Hi, whoever is reading this. I’m Zipporah Chava McConnell, but everyone calls me Zippy.

Things used to be simple—until a few weeks ago. Now my best friend, Bea, is acting funny; everyone at school thinks I’m weird; and my mom is making me start preparing for my bat mitzvah, even though we barely ever go to synagogue. In fact, the only thing that still seems to make sense is magic.

See, the thing is, I’m a witch. I’ve been casting spells since I was little. And even if no one else wants to believe in magic anymore, it’s always made sense to me, always felt true. But I was still shocked the day I found a strange red book at the library and somehow…I conjured something. A girl, actually. A beautiful girl with no memory, and wings like an angel. You probably don’t believe me, but I swear it’s the truth.

Miriam is like no one else I’ve ever met. She’s proof that magic is real. And, it’s hard to explain this part, but I just know that we’re connected. That means it’s up to me to help Miriam figure out what she is and where she came from. If I can do that, maybe everything else in my life will start to make sense too.

Anyway, it’s worth a try.

About the Author: Laurel Snyder is the beloved author of many picture books and novels for children, including the National Book Award nominee Orphan Island and the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner Charlie & Mouse. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she teaches in Hamline University’s MFA in writing for children and young adults program. Laurel lives in Atlanta with her family and can be found online at www.laurelsnyder.com.

Review: Zippy was so happy; her best friend Bea and her bonded over magic and everything has been Bea and Zippy since then and it has been wonderful. Then 7th grade begins and Bea is different and Zippy is not. This leads to Zippy feeling socially isolated and just so different than everyone else, a feeling that so many middle schoolers & those us of who went through middle school, will understand. This is the feeling that the book starts with–Zippy just wants someone who understands her again. This is the foundation for the rest of the book.

Laurel Snyder’s middle grade writing always enchants me, and Witch of Woodland is no different. Her characters in Witch are so easy to connect with (including her parents, who I love are included in such a realistic way), the magic she includes is captivating and unique, and her stories are unlike anyone else’s. What got me the most about this book, though, is Zippy. Zippy is special. She is a walking contradiction, just like many early teens are: she is strong and weak, confident and insecure, magical and human, quiet and loud, angry and optimistic… she is all of this and more, and none of that changes, though she evolves and grows in a way that she is just a better version of her same self. Zippy makes this book, everything else just supports her.

I want to note with this review that I am not Jewish, so I did not comment on the religious aspects of the book as I do not have the prior knowledge to do so. However, I did learn a lot about Jewish religion and faith through this book.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions: 

Please view and enjoy the publisher-shared Educators’ Guide :

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**Thank you to Walden Pond Press for providing a copy for review!**