  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 06/01/2014 Gr 4–6—Rupert Campbell is a fifth grader in Mrs. Frabbleknacker's class. She's the meanest teacher in school; she discourages her students from becoming friends and forces them to participate in gross projects. Rupert's mother doesn't make his life any easier, insisting that he avoid the one thing that fascinates him most—witches. When Rupert sees an ad for a witch's apprentice in the local paper, curiosity gets the best of him. Witching Two couldn't be further from his expectations. Her difficulty with spells and potions lead the duo through a series of hijinks. As their friendship forms, each agrees to help with the other's greatest challenge, be it passing a series of exams to become a full-fledged witch or standing up to a truly terrifying teacher. This friendship is the story's strongest element, as the two characters help each other through their toughest battles. Mrs. Frabbleknacker is as awful as her name, with antics reminiscent of scenes from Louis Sachar's Sideways Stories from Wayside School (Follett, 1978) gone wrong. There is a similar undercurrent of silliness in this book, including some of Witching Two's strange beliefs and aversion to bunnies. A solid choice for libraries looking to bolster their collection of lower-reading-level, middle-grade fiction.—Nicole Signoretta Sutton, Kingston Elementary School, Cherry Hill, NJ - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2014 Despite his mother’s dire warnings, Rupert wants to hang out with the witches around town. A chance to serve as apprentice to one of the young witches therefore seems too perfect to pass up, and Rupert’s relatively unfazed by the fact that she’s an undertrained witchling who may not even pass her exams. While he helps her prepare, Rupert is also contending with a person who is truly the worst teacher ever (think Dahl’s Miss Trunchbull times ten), so gathering potion ingredients and practicing spells is an excellent distraction. Neither witches nor human adults approve of this human and witch partnership, though, and indeed there’s someone who seeks to break up the buddies-or worse. There isn’t a whole lot to the plot itself, but the kids’ slowly forming friendship has real grace and authenticity; each character brings a great deal to the nascent relationship that actually helps the other grow. In addition, Eva Ibbotson fans will appreciate the quirky humor, and the hints about the astonishingly confused notions witches have about humans accumulate into a pretty hilarious misconception of just about everything readers will know to be true about themselves. A hint of true darkness (particularly in the head witch/teacher) keeps it all from being too silly; while there is never a doubt that good will prevail, there is suspense in that the odds are stacked against the intrepid but hapless duo. AS - Copyright 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
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