A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd (Thoughts On)

Title: A Snicker of Magic
Author: Natalie Lloyd (website)(Twitter)
Pages: 320
Source: Publisher for review
Rating: Over 5 out of 5. Goodness! 

Goodreads Summary:

Introducing an extraordinary new voice---a magical debut that will make your skin tingle, your eyes glisten . . .and your heart sing.

Midnight Gulch used to be a magical place, a town where people could sing up thunderstorms and dance up sunflowers. But that was long ago, before a curse drove the magic away. Twelve-year-old Felicity knows all about things like that; her nomadic mother is cursed with a wandering heart.

But when she arrives in Midnight Gulch, Felicity thinks her luck's about to change. A "word collector," Felicity sees words everywhere---shining above strangers, tucked into church eves, and tangled up her dog's floppy ears---but Midnight Gulch is the first place she's ever seen the word "home." And then there's Jonah, a mysterious, spiky-haired do-gooder who shimmers with words Felicity's never seen before, words that make Felicity's heart beat a little faster.

Felicity wants to stay in Midnight Gulch more than anything, but first, she'll need to figure out how to bring back the magic, breaking the spell that's been cast over the town . . . and her mother's broken heart.

The cover of this book and the overall premise is so adorable. When I got inside though, I was completely blown away. This is without a doubt the sweetest, most "spindiddly" book I have.ever.read. Ever. Seriously. And it got me out of my reading slump. Score. 

I wish:

• I lived in Midnight Gulch
• I were a Pickle so I could be a part of this family
• I were super rich so I could give a copy of it to every single person so they would smile

Felicity is a collector of words and I loved this aspect of the "magic" in the book. She sees them above people's heads, she sees them leaking down the window, she sees them everywhere. She writes them in her blue notebook and on her tennis shoes. She is wonderful. I've never liked a character as much as I liked her and Jonah.

Oh Jonah. I want you to be my best friend too. Or at the very least one of my sons. That he is in a wheelchair was a bonus. We see so few characters with such diversity in books. He and Felicity had such a sweet, age appropriate relationship. It was refreshing to see that they were just friends. They loved each other but there was no mention of kissing or anything of the sort. Not that I'm against a good kissing scene but they were so young (6th grade) that it worked better that they didn't. The Beedle is a wonderful character and I loved that he did good things for people...just true random acts of kindness.

Midnight Gulch is a character as much as the people. Full of magic and interesting people. I want to live there. But maybe the point is that EVERYPLACE has magic. Every family has magic. Everyone has magic.

The characters are well thought out and are quite varied. Usually I am overwhelmed when a bunch of different characters are introduced but in this case, I easily could tell them apart and fell in love with them all. Felicity's family is such a hoot. Southern charm is alive and well with them.

Since Felicity is a collector of words, there is an emphasis on words and language. Almost every single page of this 300+ book had a line or more that I wanted to underline. Good golly I loved it. It made me smile. It made me teary eyed. It made me want to call every person I love and tell them that I loved them.

I can't fangirl hard enough on this one. I've read many books that I've loved but none have had the impact that this one did. It is so much more than a middle grade book. It's so happy, and sweet and full of goodness that I almost can't put it into words. I cannot believe that this is a debut. My only complaint is the number of scenes where someone is smoking. Yuck. But other than that I have not a single bad word to say about this most delightful of books. I know without a doubt that I'll be rereading it very soon. I received an ARC from the publisher for review but I'm buying a finished copy for myself. I want to support Natalie and to support books like this one. It needs to be out in the world.