Review by Booklist Review
When Tiga Whicabim follows Fran the Fabulous Fairy down a sink drain, she finds Ritzy City, part of a weird and wonderful witch world, where style-conscious women wear magnificent dresses and hats and enjoy the best bubbly drinks ever invented. It is there that the nine-year-old foundling learns she is a contestant on the TV-sponsored Witch Wars. The winner will become Top Witch, ruler of all of Sinkville. With friend and fellow competitor Peggy Pigwiggle, she travels around the country solving riddles and outlasting most of the competition. Only evil Felicity Bat remains. If Tiga doesn't emerge the winner, she will have to return to her horrid real-world guardian, Miss Heks, but it is the invariably thoughtful and helpful Peggy who really deserves the win. Pounder's entertaining first novel is packed with silliness, suspense, magic, and a surprising final turn. Humorous gray-scale cartoons add to the appeal. This series opener, first published in England, promises good fun for middle-graders, who will look forward to a promised sequel.--Isaacs, Kathleen Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Tiga Whicabim doesn't know that she's a witch until she is nominated to compete in Witch Wars, a reality TV show where nine witches, all nine years old, compete to rule Sinkville, an enchanted land beneath the human world. After a fashion-forward fairy named Fran whisks Tiga down to a world she never knew existed, the young witch quickly falls in love with Ritzy City and the excitement of Sinkville. If she doesn't win Witch Wars, however, she'll be banished back to her awful life with the dreadful Miss Heks, playing with slugs and eating cheese water for every meal. With all the self-aware fun of reality TV-including riddles, races, and tabloid reports spotlighting the losers-debut author Pounder blends the particular, peculiar power of elimination competitions with the magic of fairies and witches, a winning combination. Anderson's b&w illustrations-part Edward Gorey, part fashion illustration-bring an appropriately eerie style to the story. Tiga's unlikely allies and quick thinking take her far, but Pounder leaves things just unsettled enough to pique interest in the next book in this planned series. Ages 8-12. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Tiga Whicabim doesn't know she's a witch until Fran the fairy shows up in her tiny shed of a home, shows her that her name is an anagram for I AM A BIG WITCH, and takes her down the sink pipes to Ritzy City. There she discovers that witches' hats are only pointy due to the journey up the pipes to our world, that witches love jam, and that she is one of nine girls slated to battle it out in the Witch Wars. The winner of Witch Wars gets to rule Ritzy City as Top Witch, but the stakes are higher for Tiga. If she loses, she'll have to go back to her shed with her horrible caretaker, who feeds her only cheese water. Not to mention the fact that she doesn't know a single spell. She'll have to work hard to outsmart mean girl witches Felicity Bat and Aggie Hoof, but luckily her new friend Peggy vows to help. The young witches, along with the sassy little fairies, make for a colorful and unpredictable cast of characters. Whimsical black-and-white illustrations throughout help readers envision this fantastical locale. VERDICT Silliness, riddles, puns, and many magical mishaps make this a great choice to help fill the elusive "funny book" hole that exists in many collections.-Mandy Laferriere, Fowler Middle School, Frisco, TX © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
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 witchshe 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. (Paranormal comedy. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
