Witchlings

Witchlings is the first installment of a three book series by Claribel A. Ortega. Scholastic praises the books as “perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers or Harry Potter” (“Witchlings,” Scholastic Kids, 2024). Like the Witchlings series, B. B. Alston’s Amari and the Night Brothers (2021) is a middle grade fantasy novel about a 12-year-old girl who embarks on a journey of self-discovery and fights against prejudice. The first Witchlings book, which was published in 2022, introduces Seven, Thorn, and Valley and their magical but inequitable world. The novel received acclaim for its celebration of diversity and the way it addresses difficult subjects, such as social exclusion, child abuse, and the loss of a sibling. 

In 2023, Ortega published The Golden Frog Games. In this sequel, the Witchlings’ town of Ravenskill hosts a magical tournament. This premise is similar to the Triwizard Tournament Hogwarts hosts in the fourth installment of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000). Thorn competes in the Golden Frog Games using the fashion skills she displayed in the first book. When someone turns her competitors to stone, the Witchlings are suspected of foul play and must work together to uncover the true culprit.