annieb123
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Totally Psychic is a well written middle grade story with a Cuban American protagonist by Brigid Martin. Released 15th Aug 2023 by HarperCollins on their (now defunct) Inkyard Press imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
It's not often a well written middle grade story comes out with an appealing main character, a fun setup, full of magical realism, real life interactions, and believable interrelationships and character development which is also appropriate and fun to read for the target audience.
Young Paloma wants to show her family (and especially her Grandma) that her gift is strong and that she can go on tour with her psychic readings just like her grandma does. Things don't work out as planned when she does a reading and she's going to need some help to fix the situation.
There are some important lessons here delivered without judgement or preachiness about bullying, accepting help from others, being modest and fighting the urge to show off and boast, etc.
Four stars. This would be a good choice for public or possibly school library acquisition, for gift giving, and for home use.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes