“The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association” by Caitlin Rozakis
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Rating: 3/5 Stars.
An interesting story of the usual parent who has to handle a kindergartener, while navigating the politics of being an accepted member of a new school and its Parent Teacher Association. Only here, the kindergartener got turned into a werewolf, and the other kids and parents are magical beings or can use magic, making the ‘mundane’ parent even more stressed out. And it doesn’t help when, of course, there is a prophecy hanging over the town and signs point to the kindergartener being involved in it. And as with any school, it would also involve parents who are overbearing, anxious, and might do anything to ensure their child succeeds.
Humour runs through the situation but for the first half of the book, it doesn’t overcome the stressful situation the parent finds herself in: handing both wolf and human form of her child (who also suffers from bullying), trying to ‘fit in’ the new school and her role in the Parent Teacher Association, and getting sideline by parents who look down at her.
It is only in the second half of the book, when she eventually breaks out and seeks new friendships, and accepts help and guidance from them and her partner, does the situation lighten up, and the book really begins to shine. She also starts to take charge of finding out more about the prophecy, and discovers how it might have been manipulated to discredit her and the discoveries she makes about goings-on in the school from her role in the Association.
Unlike another series of fantasy books featuring a boy-wizard at a wizarding school (which also gets a brief mention here), the magical world here is more in-tune with the modern world. Wizards use smartphones and organise activities via WhatsApp. I got a laugh when they discover the location of a magical person by doing a Google image lookup on a picture obtained by magical means.
In the end, the parent and her kid discover that they can make a difference, and prophecies may not be as important as some people make them out to be.
Book read from 2025/11/10 to 2025/11/12.