Hello, readers! We’re doing a third roundup column of Most Anticipated Titles this May because there are so many good books still pouring in here at the end of the month and in the first weeks of June. Gosh, how is it almost June already? It feels like we were just slogging through the five years of January before suddenly fast-forwarding to the start of summer!
It’s perhaps a little ironic then that the first selection I have for you today is a book super high on my interest list, Caitlin Rozakis’ The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association (and not just because I had a lunchtime meeting today about my kids transitioning to middle school soon!) As a lifelong lover of the magical school trope, I was totally sold on reading about the subject from the perspective of an over-worked parent, now that I am one myself.
When Vivian’s six year-old daughter Aria is bitten by a werewolf, they’re plunged into the previously hidden world of paranormal education. Back-to-school shopping is always a little disorienting, but Vivian soon finds herself in the unexpected position of having to make sure Aria has things like just the right sacrificial dagger and chew toys to fit in.
Meanwhile, Vivian also has to navigate PTA politics, with sirens and chthonic nymphs and people who can literally set her hair on fire. The biggest challenge of all, however, might be dealing with a prophecy of doom that sounds suspiciously like it’s about Aria. Every parent thinks their kid is special but this is way more than Vivian ever anticipated.