A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking is a 2020 young adult fantasy novel by Ursula Vernon, under her pseudonym T. Kingfisher. It was first published by Argyll Productions.
Synopsis When teenage bread wizard Mona discovers a corpse in her aunt's bakery, it triggers a chain of events. With the aid of animate gingerbread men, her familiar (a sourdough starter named Bob), and a few friends, they fight the Spring Green Man and Inquisitor Oberon, and lead the city in the fight against the Carex mercenaries.
Reception and awards
James Nicoll called A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking "an entertaining YA diversion that will encourage younger readers to consider just how easily they might be scapegoated by an ambitious politician," and emphasized that he would "enjoy" reading a sequel.Bake Me a Cake as Fast as You Can , by James Nicoll, at James Nicoll Reviews; published September 14, 2020; retrieved September 15, 2022 Locus commended Vernon's "ability to craft engagingly quirky characters", and her portrayal of "a Pratchettian world where magic makes for a mostly amusing background, except when it doesn't."Adrienne Martini Reviews Random Sh*t Flying Through the Air by Jackson Ford and A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher , by Adrienne Martini, in Locus; October 2020 issue; published online November 3, 2020; retrieved September 15, 2022
In 2020, Locus named A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking among the best young adult novels of the year.
+Awards and honors Year Award Result 2020 Andre Norton Award 2021 Dragon Award for Best Young Adult / Middle Grade Novel Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book Mythopoeic Award for Children's Literature
References