Stories are light: Snap! It's a Magical Blog Tour

You know how when you visit friends, some are super organised and have the coffee and cake ready but others, although just as welcoming, are still trying to find where they put the coffee and whether there are any biscuits left in the cupboard that will do instead of cake? Today, as a blog tour host, I’m the latter.

But being a little behind in my preparation helped me uncover something I didn’t know about Angela Sunde. When I visited Kids Book Review, the first stop on her Snap Magic blog tour, I discovered Angela is also an illustrator and she did the illustrations for the title page and front cover.

Snap Magic is the sequel to Aussie Chomp Pond Magic and continues the magic-plagued adventures of twelve-year-old Lily Padd.

I wondered whether Angela imagined herself as a future author or illustrator when she was Lily Padd’s age. So I asked her:

I liked to write poetry and song lyrics at 12 and desperately wanted to be an artist/illustrator. I tried writing a novel at 12, but set it in the USA, because I didn't think anyone would want to know about a NZ kid. So I failed that one, as I knew nothing about the US.

A Review: Snap Magic by Angela Sunde

Lily Padd has problems and they’re much bigger than her embarrassing name. First there’s the hair on her chin and the others that soon follow.

She’s on the run from Rick, the bra-strap snapper, but it’s not the painful flick that bothers her. It’s anyone discovering that she doesn’t even wear a bra yet.

Her beautiful dress for the Halloween Dance is ruined by her terrible twin 6-year-old sisters. Mrs Swan, the witch next door, offers a solution. Lily’s had trouble with magic before but she’s willing to take another chance.

It gets worse. When Mum becomes a seller for Snap ‘n’ Pack, Lily has to dodge mean-girl Ellie Middleton at school and in the Middleton home, when Mum drags her there to help with a party demonstration.

Still the hair keeps growing. Other people around her are looking a little hairy too.

Lily knows it’s magic. Ellen has worked it out too and she’s going to tell Lily’s secret at the Halloween Dance and destroy her chances with the new boy.

That’s the biggest problem of all.

Told in easy to read short chapters, Snap Magic is perfect for tween girls. Lily is a feisty character who refuses to be defeated by the troubles and challenges thrown at her. Even magical ones. With the help of her best friend, Maureen, she faces them all.

While Snap Magic deals with mature themes such as bullying, trust, friend and parent relationships, developing adolescence, and preoccupation with physical appearance, it does this with gentle and sensitive age-appropriate humour. This book could be a starting point for first mother-daughter discussions.

Check out the other blogstop on the Snap Magic Blog Tour

Monday 13 Oct Kids Book Review