A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2020

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-7

Chapters 8-14

Chapters 15-22

Chapters 23-30

Chapters 31-37

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Background

Authorial Context: T. Kingfisher

T. Kingfisher is the pseudonym for American author Ursula Vernon. She primarily publishes children’s fiction under Vernon and adult fantasy and horror under Kingfisher. Ursula Vernon initially gained acclaim for her beloved children’s books, including the Dragon Breath series and the Hamster Princess series. She also released the Hugo Award-winning webcomic series, Digger (2003-11), about a wombat who digs tunnels and becomes lost after an encounter with a magical temple.

Under the name T. Kingfisher, she publishes a wide range of fantasy novels such as her well-known “Temple of the White Rat” series, including The Clockwork Boys (2017), Swordheart (2018), and Paladin’s Grace (2020). Her recent fantasy works include Nettle & Bone (2022), which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel and was also nominated for the Nebula and Locus Awards, and A House with Good Bones (2023). In addition, she also writes well-regarded horror novels such as The Hollow Places (2020), which won the Dragon Award, and What Moves the Dead (2022), which won the Locus Award. Her horror novels are praised for their distinctive combination of unsettling imagery and humor.

Though Vernon/Kingfisher writes in many genres, her work usually includes unique and imaginative spins on familiar tropes and storylines, quirky characters with unusual abilities, intelligent and hardworking girls/women, and her highly recognizable humorous tone.

Genre Context: Young Adult Fantasy

A Wizard’s Guide fits the genres of young adult fiction and fantasy fiction, both of which have seen a rise in popularity in recent years. Young adult (YA) fiction, in particular, has grown enormously both in terms of readership and number of titles published, with sales increasing approximately 48% since 2018 despite being a relatively new genre (the earliest references to YA as a distinct genre only go back around 50 years) (Areesha A. “The Rise of YA Fiction and Why It’s So Important.” The Teen Magazine, 19 Aug. 2023).

As with adult fiction, YA fiction contains various subgenres, such as science fiction, fantasy, romance, and mystery. Within YA, fantasy fiction has likewise seen a jump in popularity, due in large part to the success of the Harry Potter and Hunger Games franchises. However, though Harry Potter and many other YA fantasy titles appeal to boys and girls, more recent entries in the genre are aimed almost exclusively at girls and women. In fact, the YA readership skews significantly female, at around 60%, and includes not only girls between the ages of 14-18 but women well into adulthood (Dahl, Melissa. “The Dudes Who Read Young-Adult Fiction.” The Cut, 8 June 2014).

Much of T. Kingfisher’s work adheres to these trends, appealing primarily to teenage girls and young adult women with protagonists who are independent, clever, and often quirky girls facing difficult circumstances with compassion and inner strength. However, Kingfisher’s work also often resists stereotypes and cliches, particularly the “chosen one” trope. Rather than focusing on characters who are special or chosen and have extra-powerful abilities (such as Katniss in The Hunger Games, Harry in the Harry Potter series, Tris in the Divergent series, and many other main characters in popular YA books), Kingfisher portrays down-to-earth characters with limited or unusual abilities who learn to leverage their minor influences in constructive ways. This is especially true in the case of Mona, the protagonist of A Wizard’s Guide.