THE BRIXEN WITCH by Stacy DeKeyser

An enchanted coin. A witch’s curse. And rats, rats everywhere! What’s a boy to do?When Rudi Bauer accidentally takes a witch’s coin, he unleashes her curse. Accident or not, he knows he’s got to fix things, so he tries to return the coin, only to lose it on the witch’s magic mountain just as the snows come. Plagued all winter by terrible dreams, Rudi tries to find the coin again in the spring, but it has vanished—and a plague of rats has descended on his village.

     Then a stranger arrives and promises to rid the village of rats—for the price of the missing coin. Desperate to get rid of the rats, the villagers agree—but when they cannot pay, the stranger exacts a price too terrible for anyone to bear. Now Rudi is going to need all his courage—and some help from his savvy grandmother and a bold young girl—to set things right in this fast and funny adventure.

First line:
Rudi Bauer ran for his life and cursed his bad luck."

Beehive Award Nominee
I liked this retelling of the Pied Piper. I really liked Rudi and how he changed and grew in throughout the book. Great middle grade story and I would recommend it to any family!

Rating: G


Liked:
Pied Piper retelling
Rudi
Rudi's growth
The witch!

Didn't like:
Well, the rats. Not that I'm afraid of rats but there were soooo many! yuck!


4 1/2 STARS