Ruby McCracken is a little witch with a big problem – she can’t do magic any more.

Whisked from a world of broomstick flyways and spider egg breakfasts into the mundane setting of Ordinary World Edinburgh, she’s every bit as underwhelmed as her non-magical classmates – until she realises that there is more going on than meets the eye.

Ruby is an endearing, witty heroine whose whose frustrations – particularly at her parents (imagine your mum wearing her paper Burger Barn work hat all the time) – will resonate with young readers as much as her language does, and Ezra’s sense of fun abounds in the witchy details (like a dressing made out of frogspawn juice, curdled milk and a hint of powdered bat wing).

A great fit for readers looking to move on from the Worst Witch or Wrigglesbottom Primary, to something slightly spooky, but not too scary.

Ruby McCracken: Tragic without Magic, Kelpies (age 7 plus).