A Snicker of Magic

"I knew how that felt, to love a story so much you didn't just want to read it, you wanted to feel it."  - Felicity Pickle from A Snicker of Magic

That's exactly how I felt about this story.  I'm pretty sure I did feel some parts of it.  How can you not feel the friendship between Jonah and Felicity?  How can you not feel Felicity's love for her mother?  How can you not feel the desire Felicity has to belong, to be home?

I purchased A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd many weeks ago as friend after friend raved about the book.  I knew I was going to love it so I did something I rarely do, I actually bought it for my Kindle.  Of course, I bought it, and then books I had been waiting in line for at our library digital site kept becoming available.  With the narrow window to complete, A Snicker of Magic kept having to wait.  Finally, I could wait no longer.  I opened it and couldn't put it down.

In A Snicker of Magic, the Pickles arrive in Midnight Gulch where Felicity, Frannie, and their mama stay with their Aunt Cleo.  Felicity's mom likes to wander and doesn't stay anywhere for long.  It doesn't take long for Felicity to fall in love with Midnight Gulch where she finds herself blanketed in the love of friends and family.  Felicity wants to stay there, to make Midnight Gulch her home, but she can see in Mama's eyes that she has plans to leave.

Midnight Gulch isn't your normal town.  Midnight Gulch is a place with a story, a little magic, and a terrible curse.  Natalie Lloyd weaves her story delicately adding small details about the curse that ended the magic of Midnight Gulch many generations ago.  Can Felicity and Jonah unravel the curse, bring a little magic back to the town, and possibly convince Mama to stay?  Is there, perhaps, a little snicker of magic left to make everything better?

If you haven't read this one, don't wait.  Move it to the top of your pile!  I'm glad it will be waiting on my Kindle when I want to visit Midnight Gulch again.

A Few Quotes
Natalie Lloyd has a way with words.  Here are a few quotes I loved in this book:

• "Mama's story voice is like nothing I've ever heard, like something between a summer breeze and a lullaby."  Felicity Pickle 
• "Every person you will ever meet, and every place you will ever go, and every building you set your foot in - has a story to tell."  Miss Lawson, Felicity's teacher
• "Some miracles are big and flashy, and others are sweet and simple.  Some miracles make you want to shout, and others make you want to sing."  Felicity
• "She told stories in such a way that I swear my heart heard them before my ears did." Felicity
• "I wanted to wrap up in her stories, curl them around my shoulders like a quilt." Felicity
• "How strange, I thought, when you can see what's way out ahead of you but not what's right up close." Felicity
• "Even if the bad memory comes first, I choose to replace it with a good one instead."  Holly Pickle
• "Home is what happens when you are brave enough to love people." Felicity