In her book, Wildseed Witch, Marti Dumas skillfully weaves a modern-day teenager’s obsession with establishing a makeup YouTube channel with an unexpected scholarship to a fancy finishing school for young witches. Hasani, not even aware that she has a latent ability or an unknown heritage in magic, is a wildseed – a stray from a family unaccustomed to using magical arts.
Real life problems surface as rising eighth-grader Hasani sticks out like a sore thumb among her classmates from old money families at the Les Belle Demoiselles charm (magic?) school who have a tradition of becoming the movers and shakers in the world. At the school, she faces cliques, questions of whom to trust among her peers, and confusing expectations from her instructors in magic (charm?). As if that is not enough, an unsettled background hovers at home as her parents may be getting a divorce. Her iffy access to the Internet leaves her with lack of control over family issues even before she gets glimpses of her father’s girlfriend with her own YouTube posts.
Marti’s setting becomes almost another character in the story. Her South Louisiana mixture of French and Creole influence, the variety of native flora and fauna, and speech patterns add authenticity. My own personal favorite, the prolific Gulf Fritillary butterflies populate the scene as they should.
This is an enjoyable book for middle schoolers with a strong hint that strength lies in being true to oneself even if your family heritage contains no magic.