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A Handful of Spells
Who wouldn't want to go to a 300-year-old school of magic, wave a wand, and learn to fly? But this girl falls off her broom, gets her spells wrong, and isn't sure her cat really is a familiar. All because her ears don't work as well as everyone else's. But once Caitlin Leo finds her real community, everything changes.
390 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2013
1 person is currently reading
516 people want to read
About the author
Kimberley A. Shaw
1 book13 followersKimberley A. Shaw grew up admiring schooners and reading her way through the town library in Camden, Maine. Born hard-of-hearing, she knows firsthand the struggles of being mainstreamed throughout her entire school career. It was only as an adult in Boston MA that she was convinced to try a class in American Sign Language, and there discovered the beauty and power of signed languages. She now holds a Master’s degree in librarianship and lives in a 100-year-old house in Boston with a fellow-bookworm spouse and several chowder-eating cats. Their combined library contains books in many of the languages which show up at Witches' Academy, and then some. "A Handful of Spells" is her first novel. A second novel, also set in Salem MA, is tentatively due in 2017.
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July 14, 2017Andrea Shettle - one of our recurring contributors - reviewed this book on her own blog and highly recommends it.
July 8, 2017
As a deaf/Deaf person myself, I can affirm that this book offers an authentic portrayal of what it can be like to be a young deaf person surrounded by people who are difficult to understand. The main character, Caitlin, is described as hard of hearing--since she can hear well enough to talk on the phone in ideal listening circumstances (which is what many deaf/HoH community members use as the dividing line between "deaf" and "hard of hearing") then, yes, this fits. But she also experiences many of the same communication-related frustrations as deaf/Deaf people do: amplification, and other accommodations such as taking steps to eliminate background noise help her a lot, but still leaves her missing A LOT of the content that everyone else around her can understand.
[Mild spoilers ahead, but only for the early part of the book.] In regard to the amplification, wait until you read it--Kimberley Shaw has a unique magical solution--well suited to a book about magic taking place at a young witches' school--that in some ways is better than the non-magical variety of hearing aids. But it is made clear that it is perhaps only marginally better and still leaves her missing out on a lot.
I should note that the author herself, Kimberley Shaw, is hard of hearing (#OwnVoices), which clearly gives her a lot of personal insight that has informed her writing.
Some aspects of the world building may appear to be somewhat derivative of Harry Potter, but Kimberley Shaw also introduces many new twists and elements in her world building that are uniquely her own. In the early parts of the story, I sometimes got frustrated with the main character for initially trying to muddle through things on her own without accommodations, and without asking others for help. And I frequently was angry at characters who should have realized they should do more planning and accommodations for the needs of a young deaf/HoH student witch. It was hard to read these things because I care about Cait and wanted others to take better care of her--and for her to take better care of herself too. But as difficult as it was to sit through, it was also very authentic: Many young people with disabilities are so anxious to "fit in" among non-disabled peers that they do, in fact, try to avoid using the accommodations they need because they worry that using these accommodations will make them look "different".
For me as a deaf reader, this is one of only a tiny number of books I have ever read in my life where I could so easily picture myself exactly in Cait's shoes ... if only I were young, magical, and suddenly received an invitation to witches' school!
I recommend this book and encourage others to buy it and read it. The blurb on the cover says the author is working on a second book. It is not clear to me if it is a sequel, but I hope it is because I would like to read more of Caitlin and where she goes next.
To me, this book is kind of a cross between Harry Potter and "Hurt Go Happy" by Ginny RorbyHurt Go Happy: A Novel See a review I wrote on Hurt Go Happy for the Disability in Kid Lit blog: http://disabilityinkidlit.com/2016/02... If you want something that is like A Handful of Spells, but without the magic, and with the addition of a chimpanzee, then try Hurt Go Happy.
[Mild spoilers ahead, but only for the early part of the book.] In regard to the amplification, wait until you read it--Kimberley Shaw has a unique magical solution--well suited to a book about magic taking place at a young witches' school--that in some ways is better than the non-magical variety of hearing aids. But it is made clear that it is perhaps only marginally better and still leaves her missing out on a lot.
I should note that the author herself, Kimberley Shaw, is hard of hearing (#OwnVoices), which clearly gives her a lot of personal insight that has informed her writing.
Some aspects of the world building may appear to be somewhat derivative of Harry Potter, but Kimberley Shaw also introduces many new twists and elements in her world building that are uniquely her own. In the early parts of the story, I sometimes got frustrated with the main character for initially trying to muddle through things on her own without accommodations, and without asking others for help. And I frequently was angry at characters who should have realized they should do more planning and accommodations for the needs of a young deaf/HoH student witch. It was hard to read these things because I care about Cait and wanted others to take better care of her--and for her to take better care of herself too. But as difficult as it was to sit through, it was also very authentic: Many young people with disabilities are so anxious to "fit in" among non-disabled peers that they do, in fact, try to avoid using the accommodations they need because they worry that using these accommodations will make them look "different".
For me as a deaf reader, this is one of only a tiny number of books I have ever read in my life where I could so easily picture myself exactly in Cait's shoes ... if only I were young, magical, and suddenly received an invitation to witches' school!
I recommend this book and encourage others to buy it and read it. The blurb on the cover says the author is working on a second book. It is not clear to me if it is a sequel, but I hope it is because I would like to read more of Caitlin and where she goes next.
To me, this book is kind of a cross between Harry Potter and "Hurt Go Happy" by Ginny RorbyHurt Go Happy: A Novel See a review I wrote on Hurt Go Happy for the Disability in Kid Lit blog: http://disabilityinkidlit.com/2016/02... If you want something that is like A Handful of Spells, but without the magic, and with the addition of a chimpanzee, then try Hurt Go Happy.
April 11, 2016
I just finished a fantastic book (A Handful of Spells by Kimberly A Shaw) about a young Hard-of-Hearing girl who finds out she has magical powers. However, doing magic in the traditional wand-waving way does not work well for her. It's an amazing novel of self discovery, magic, and friendship. If you love Harry Potter, I seriously recommend it.
There are not enough books with d/Deaf and HOH characters. Also, the author herself is HOH. This novel has a great and diverse cast of characters. I cannot recommend it enough.
There are not enough books with d/Deaf and HOH characters. Also, the author herself is HOH. This novel has a great and diverse cast of characters. I cannot recommend it enough.
July 1, 2024
Deaf reader reviewing books with deaf characters. This book is listed on my ranked list of books with deaf characters.
This book by a hard of hearing author is the deafie version of Harry Potter, starring 11 year old witch Cait, who is hard of hearing. (In fact I think this started off as a Harry Potter fanfic! If so, Shaw does a good job with converting the worldbuilding into something more original, though there's still some overlap.)
Overall, the descriptions of Cait's hearing and the assistive hearing technology is accurate. She doesn't seem to supplement her residual hearing with speechreading. Cait can generally hear high frequencies, but not low. It threw me a bit that she has the most trouble with hearing /s/, which is a high frequency sound, but maybe her hearing threshold falls below it, or she has reverse cookie bite type deafness.
A blip: No mention of hearing aids during swimming. Did she take them out? Spell them to be waterproof?
One thing I wish the author had addressed in more detail is the hearing aids. No electronics are allowed at the witches' school—but she brings her aids with no apparent issue, as well as extra batteries. It's mentioned at one point that electronics aren't allowed because magic environments interfere with them, and that spells caused Cait's aids to go briefly staticky, but I'm not entirely satisfied.
As for other accommodations, Cait is responsible for requesting them. A bit strange that an 11 year old is left completely in charge of requesting accommodations—why wouldn’t her parents write to the teachers? Shouldn’t someone have been notified that Cait is hard of hearing, especially as the envoy had been made aware of it? So it is that when Cait first arrives at school, she has no accommodations—they go straight into dividing up the students and assigning mentors that Cait can't understand. But even afterwards, when she does have the time to go to the infirmary to ask about accommodations, Cait doesn't. She is reluctant to have any, due to bullying experience in the past at her mainstream school.
When she does eventually go, the nurse gives Cait a “trumpetvine,” which funnels amplified sounds to her ears. It’s worn around the shoulders and mistaken easily for a necklace. It’s the magic version of an FM loop (which she used with much chagrin in mainstream school). The trumpetvine is more versatile as it sneaks up to whomever Cait wants to listen to.
Something I thought was well done was Cait's journey from spoken spells to signed spells.
When speaking spells is difficult for her, Cait begins to experiment with signed spells with some measure of success. The little research she could do yielded no help so she takes it into her own hands and sends for an ASL dictionary, translating spells into ASL equivalents. Teachers put a stop to that, as conversational languages are dangerous for spellwork. Instead, they tutor her in a formal visual-kinetic (V-K) system, which involves writing spells in the air.
Later, Cait chances upon a deaf broomderby team and aspires to learn ASL and join them. This begins her journey into the signing deaf magical community and learning signed spellcasting (via a deaf instructor), a more efficient version of V-K. She is given a spellbook written in an ASL script inspired by Valerie Sutton’s work.
Cait succeeds without access to ASL and then surpasses/excels with access, which is a good decision. It demonstrates that even the smartest and most adaptable children benefit from bimodal-bilingualism.
Overall, it's a cute story, and I enjoyed it. This is something that I would probably have absolutely loved as a middle schooler (and perhaps something I might have needed as a child, to see myself and my struggles reflected in a hero like Cait).
This book by a hard of hearing author is the deafie version of Harry Potter, starring 11 year old witch Cait, who is hard of hearing. (In fact I think this started off as a Harry Potter fanfic! If so, Shaw does a good job with converting the worldbuilding into something more original, though there's still some overlap.)
Overall, the descriptions of Cait's hearing and the assistive hearing technology is accurate. She doesn't seem to supplement her residual hearing with speechreading. Cait can generally hear high frequencies, but not low. It threw me a bit that she has the most trouble with hearing /s/, which is a high frequency sound, but maybe her hearing threshold falls below it, or she has reverse cookie bite type deafness.
A blip: No mention of hearing aids during swimming. Did she take them out? Spell them to be waterproof?
One thing I wish the author had addressed in more detail is the hearing aids. No electronics are allowed at the witches' school—but she brings her aids with no apparent issue, as well as extra batteries. It's mentioned at one point that electronics aren't allowed because magic environments interfere with them, and that spells caused Cait's aids to go briefly staticky, but I'm not entirely satisfied.
As for other accommodations, Cait is responsible for requesting them. A bit strange that an 11 year old is left completely in charge of requesting accommodations—why wouldn’t her parents write to the teachers? Shouldn’t someone have been notified that Cait is hard of hearing, especially as the envoy had been made aware of it? So it is that when Cait first arrives at school, she has no accommodations—they go straight into dividing up the students and assigning mentors that Cait can't understand. But even afterwards, when she does have the time to go to the infirmary to ask about accommodations, Cait doesn't. She is reluctant to have any, due to bullying experience in the past at her mainstream school.
When she does eventually go, the nurse gives Cait a “trumpetvine,” which funnels amplified sounds to her ears. It’s worn around the shoulders and mistaken easily for a necklace. It’s the magic version of an FM loop (which she used with much chagrin in mainstream school). The trumpetvine is more versatile as it sneaks up to whomever Cait wants to listen to.
Something I thought was well done was Cait's journey from spoken spells to signed spells.
When speaking spells is difficult for her, Cait begins to experiment with signed spells with some measure of success. The little research she could do yielded no help so she takes it into her own hands and sends for an ASL dictionary, translating spells into ASL equivalents. Teachers put a stop to that, as conversational languages are dangerous for spellwork. Instead, they tutor her in a formal visual-kinetic (V-K) system, which involves writing spells in the air.
Later, Cait chances upon a deaf broomderby team and aspires to learn ASL and join them. This begins her journey into the signing deaf magical community and learning signed spellcasting (via a deaf instructor), a more efficient version of V-K. She is given a spellbook written in an ASL script inspired by Valerie Sutton’s work.
Cait succeeds without access to ASL and then surpasses/excels with access, which is a good decision. It demonstrates that even the smartest and most adaptable children benefit from bimodal-bilingualism.
Overall, it's a cute story, and I enjoyed it. This is something that I would probably have absolutely loved as a middle schooler (and perhaps something I might have needed as a child, to see myself and my struggles reflected in a hero like Cait).
June 8, 2019
I devoured A Handful of Spells. I enjoyed how Ms. Shaw "painted" my vision of The Witches Academy of Salem and set the stage for me to watch Cait's life at The Academy. I look forward to Kimberley's next novel!
November 8, 2015
When I received this book a "Handful of Spells" I was excited about reading it as the fantasy world is a fun place to get away! The story is about Caitlin Leo, a hard-of-hearing young girl who finds out that she is a witch and has been invited to a three hundred year old school of magic.
A well written novel I enjoyed the story that takes Cait through her fist year of school. The story is interesting and fun but being a huge Harry Potter fan (I read all 7 books to my children when they were younger) I found myself finding too many similarities between the stories and it made me feel a little disappointed. That being said I like how the characters where developed and the story held my interest until the end. A bit more original and I would have given 4 stars. A good reads giveaway that I received, thank you!
A well written novel I enjoyed the story that takes Cait through her fist year of school. The story is interesting and fun but being a huge Harry Potter fan (I read all 7 books to my children when they were younger) I found myself finding too many similarities between the stories and it made me feel a little disappointed. That being said I like how the characters where developed and the story held my interest until the end. A bit more original and I would have given 4 stars. A good reads giveaway that I received, thank you!
October 28, 2014
First..to borrow the perfect phrase from Ms. Shaw and "A Handful of Spells": "Yay! Woot, Woot!". Just closed the book and wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed it...from the first page to the last you gave us many evenings of pure, unadulterated joy! I felt like Cait when she discovered the Eagles...I was home, among folks who know me and understand. Sharing it with my best friend and husband of 33 years who btw can hear like a bat! was too much fun. Needless to say, I can't wait to hear more of Cait and Meg and Penny and Mrs. Corwin, et al. Plan to order more copies for friends and family...will make great gifts and who know, we 'hard of hearies' might just open up a whole new world of understanding for a whole lot of folks!
Barbara Belton, M.S., M.S.
Barbara Belton, M.S., M.S.
July 12, 2014
I am hoping there will be a sequel to this book. I want to read more of Cait, Meg and Penny's magical adventures.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews