Love Sugar Magic

November 13, 2017
In this effervescent kickoff to the Love Sugar Magic series, Leonora “Leo” Logroño is tired of being the baby of the family: her four older sisters all speak Spanish and get to help out at the family bakery, especially as they prepare for Diá de los Muertos. Then Leo discovers that her mother and sisters are actually brujas, able to bake magic spells into their pastries. “Our power comes from the magic of sweetness,” explains one sister. “Sweetness from love and sweetness from sugar.” Leo will be initiated at age 15, but she can’t wait to try her hand at magic, resulting in a love spell that goes horribly wrong. Meriano’s first novel is steeped in Mexican culture, family lore, and delicious baked goods. Readers who don’t speak Spanish will share in Leo’s confusion (the magical recipes are all written in Spanish), and those who do will enjoy being in on the family’s secrets. A warmhearted read that will satisfy readers and leave them eager for a second helping. Art not seen by PW. A Cake Literary property. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Victoria Marini, Irene Goodman Literary.

Starred review from November 1, 2017

Gr 3-6-Amor y Azucar Panaderia (Love and Sugar Bakery) is bustling on the eve of Dia de los Muertos, and all Leonora Logrono wants to do is help. But as the youngest of five sisters, Leo is repeatedly told she is too young to participate in the family business. Leo resorts to sneaking, and discovers that Mama, Tia, and her sisters are brujas, and there is more to their baked goods than just sugar and flour. Anxious to explore her own potential abilities, Leo steals a book of magical recipes and begins experimenting, leading to various mishaps. Tradition is a prominent theme in this debut, but instead of leading to conflict, Meriano depicts a family that is open and accepting of change, while still honoring long-standing family customs. Leo, despite feeling left out, has very supportive older sisters who guide her misadventures, and ultimately, along with the elder women (even Abuela, whose ghost keeps an eye on the family), shape Leo's magical development. Spell recipes are included in the text entirely in Spanish, which Leo, as a nonspeaker, must decipher using a bilingual dictionary. Back matter includes additional nonmagical recipes for pan de muerto and amaranth bars that should keep readers busy until the next installment in the series. VERDICT A delectable debut with wide appeal, and a must-have for middle grade fiction collections.-Jessica Agudelo, New York Public Library

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2017
In the small town of Rose Hill, Texas, the Logrono family runs a truly magical bakery in Meriano's debut. Leo, short for Leonora, is the youngest of five sisters in a Mexican-American family. Leo feels left out as the older girls step up to help run the family bakery while she watches from the sidelines. Convinced that secrets are being kept from her, Leo skips school to do some reconnaissance and stumbles upon, first, the other women of the family participating in a mysterious ceremony and then, later, an old book titled Recetas de amor, azucar, y magia, or Recipes of Love, Sugar, and Magic. When eldest sister Isabel discovers Leo with the book, she confirms Leo's suspicions that something is being kept from her: the women of her family are brujas, or witches. Though Isabel warns her against it, Leo decides to pursue her magical training independently, guided by the enigmatic recipe book, and uses the recipes to help her friends out of sticky situations. When things inevitably misfire, Leo finds she is on her own to right her magical mistakes. In this weave of Mexican, Texan, and American cultures, readers are sure to find mirrors to their own experiences and windows onto others, all wrapped in a fantastical bow. Scrupulously avoiding tokenism, Meriano builds a wonderful contemporary world in small-town Texas, full of diverse characters, where magic feels right at home and muggles will feel equally welcome. A series opener that's proof that windows and mirrors can be magical ingredients. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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November 1, 2017
Grades 3-6 Leonora Logrono is the fifth daughter in a family of brujas, or witches, but she doesn't know it yet. At 11, she's feeling frustrated and left out when her family is preparing for Dia de los Muertos, and she's the only one excluded. After some snooping, she finds out she has the ability to add magic to cooking, and when her best friend is having trouble with her neighbor (read: boy crush), she sticks her magical nose in and creates a big mess. There's lot of Spanish in the narrative, and Meriano cleverly accommodates readers unfamiliar with Spanish by making Leonora less fluent herselfsince she so often misunderstands her Spanish-speaking family members, she regularly asks for clarification. There are also delicious recipes sprinkled in, and cute designs accompanying the beginning of each chapter. The power of friendship and family bonds, as well as how good intentions can end badly, are strong themes that will resonate with middle-grade readers. Leo is a funny, lovable protagonist, and readers will feel right at home in this cozy series starter.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2018
As the youngest of five sisters, eleven-year-old Leonora Logro�o certainly knows the frustration of being the baby of the family. And her dissatisfaction boils over when, unlike her older sisters, she doesn't get to help in her family's bakery, Amor y Az�car Panader�a, especially during the biggest moneymaking time of the year, D�a de los Muertos?and double especially when Mam� and Leo's sisters and aunts appear to have so many whispered secrets surrounding their recipes. So Leo snoops and discovers the family mystery: all the female family members are witches, or brujas, whose magic comes from the love in their hearts and the sweetness in the confections they create. Each sister is initiated, and her particular magic discovered, when she is fifteen, but impatient Leo doesn't want to wait another four years. So she decides to do a little experimenting on her own, which leads to comical results, from flying pig cookies to a love potion that she's got to reverse?and does so with surprising results. Leo and her sisters have lots of personality, and first-novelist Meriano creates a believable family whose members sprinkle love, affection, and natural domestic gripes as naturally as they mix Spanish and English. The ending hints at a sequel with further experimentation on the horizon. betty carter

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2018
Eleven-year-old Leonora Logroqo doesn't get to help in her family's bakery. Leo snoops and discovers all her female family members are �cf2]brujas�cf1], or witches. Impatient Leo doesn't want to wait four years for her initiation, so she experiments on her own, with comical results. First-novelist Meriano creates a believable family whose members sprinkle love, affection, and natural domestic gripes as naturally as they mix Spanish and English.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)