A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking

By T Kingfisher

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Recommend book

Winner of the 2021 Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book

Winner of the Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

Winner of the Locus Award for Young Adult Fiction

Winner of the Dragon Award Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel

Winner of the Mythopoeic Award for Children's Literature

Winner of the Cóyotl Award for Best Novel

Fourteen-year-old Mona isn't like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can't control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt's bakery making gingerbread men dance.

But Mona's life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona's city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona's worries...

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Published Jul 21, 2020

320 pages

Average rating: 7.48

102 RATINGS

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Anonymous

May 19, 2024

10/10 stars

What a great book! As the author states in the notes at the end of the book, it's a little dark for a children's book, but it is so good, I don't think anyone minds. The humor in it offsets the darkness.

My main complaint with the book is that the gingerbread man has such an important part in the story, but he never has a name. Even the golems have names, even though they are just the names of the colors on them. This little guy needs a name. Thankfully, though, he doesn't get eaten by Bob, or anyone else for that matter.

R SM

Jun 06, 2025

10/10 stars

This book such a fun read! It was one of my first T Kingfisher books and I absolutely loved it. I enjoyed the storyline and the silliness and characters. Also the coming to life dough was really ridiculous. Anyway, recommend for a fun light hearted read.

hideTurtle

Sep 20, 2024

7/10 stars

“You haven't lived until you've seen a cookie look smug.” Mona is a fourteen year old wizard who is content working in her aunt's bakery and doesn't see the value in her talent for animating bread. After she encounters the body of another young mage in the bakery and is wrongfully accused of murder, a plot to apprehend and eliminate those with any magical power is uncovered. As the story unfolds, Mona transforms a seemingly useless ability into a force strong enough to overcome evil. This book is so clearly aimed at a very young audience (maybe 12 to 14 years old?), but it was so damned entertaining that I couldn't put it down. Who can resist a story where battles are fought with legions of angry gingerbread men and a carnivorous sourdough starter named Bob?

LMahoney

Jun 05, 2024

8/10 stars

What a fun, cozy, adventure book! Only not 5 stars because I wanted even more baking magic. Otherwise, this was a really fun read. I loved the characters, the messaging about wars and the idea of what a hero is, and of course, Bob and the Gingerbread Man (who needed a name dang it!)

Anonymous

Mar 13, 2024

8/10 stars

A cute story about a magical baker. I have done myself and this book a disservice reading it when I wasn't in the mood for YA. The dead horse felt very much like what I would expect from Kingfisher. The brand of creepy, prickly, yet funny characterizations. There's definitely a moral or two built in and don"t worry you won't miss it. Its a cozy war story. Its a pretty good time.