A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking

Please keep in mind, this is very much YA. While there is murder and war, the story is told from the perspective of a 14 year old girl. The narrator was great and made it feel like you were in Mona’s mind as a young teenager being thrown into a war as a hero she did not want to be. Mona is the only wizard left to defend her city from a traitor and his band of ruthless killers. After an attempted murder, Mona discovers there’s even more to the story and now she has to save the city. However, she only has baking magic. With that, we get an army of giant bread creatures, and angry sourdough starter, and naughty gingerbread men. With her faithful gingerbread companion and a street orphan named Spindle, Mona sets out to do what the grown-ups should have prevented. I very much enjoyed the story, especially with all the little quirks throughout. I also like that we get a child telling an adult authority figure that none of this should have been the responsibility of a child and telling them to do better.