SOLVED. Middle Grade book about a female witch who is super good but apparently is the bad one in the end. [s]

[Nymn]

The title doesn't explain it well. It's a primary school/middle grade book about this really sweet blonde witch. Think Snow White. It does have an urban fantasy background. For example, one of her neighbours smells of fish and has very dry, scaly legs because she's originally a mermaid.

The protagonist is the only nice female in the book and always seems to have animals in her hair or something, she's lovely and sweet to everyone, even to all the horrible characters. I think the plot was about the male lead, who is the strongest male magician/witch/sorcerer, looking for the strongest female with dark powers. All the horrid females try out but are not good enough and fail or something and he never seems interested in any of them anyway. He does fall in love with the protagonist and it's revealed by the end that she actually has the darkest powers, eventhough she's essentially good, and they live happily ever after. Oh, there's also the summoning of a leviathan near the end if I'm not wrong.

[Rebecca]

Sounds like you could be looking for Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson to me.

[Rebecca]

More info on Which Witch? to hopefully help:

Book Description
Arriman the Awful, the Wizard of the North, needs a wife, and, naturally, the only woman a wizard can marry is a witch. But which witch will Arriman choose? Warty, wicked, or just plain rude-witches galore enter his spell-casting competition. Poor Belladonna doesn't have a chance. Her spells conjure up pink begonias or ice-cream sundaes, not a single viper or toad. But with the help of a mysterious orphan and a worm named Rover, Belladonna just might do something really sinister.

And some quotes from inside the book:

Mermaid/scaly legs
"From her mermaid mother Mabel had inherited rather scaly legs which dried out easily and itched, so she wanted to get to Windylow Heath where the air was damp and cool."

Animals in hair
"Belladonna came slowly around the corner. She was a very young witch with thick, golden hair in which a short-eared bat hung like a little wrinkled prune. There was usually somethign in Belladonna's hair: a fledgling blackbird parked there by its mother while she went to hunt for worms, a baby squirrel wanting somewhere safe to eat its hazel nuts or a butterfly who thought she was a lily or a rose. Belladonna's nose turned up at the end, makign a ledge for tired ladybirds to rest on; she had a high, clear forehead and eyes as blue as periwinkles.

[Nymn]

Sorry, I didn't see your first post! But you're definitely right! Thank you for all your effort! Yay! :D

[Rebecca]

No problem - glad it was your book! :)