Delores Fletcher, Cobweb Catcher

by Kathryn Rose Jacoby

Giant spiders are nesting in people's homes and sixteen-year-old Delores Fletcher is now the town's official Cobweb Catcher - and alone. She's alienated any friends she might have had at flight school and now turns to the unlikely help of an outcast ghost and the spirit of her great-great-great-grandmother Mabel Verity Fletcher, the most notorious Cobweb Catcher in history. But, life for a Cobweb Catcher can be difficult and things aren't always what they seem. Magical powers alone are not enough, especially when Delores' success means unbalancing the ecology of her town.

Genres: Childrens

126 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2012

Reviews

[Judy Martialay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delores Fletcher is a sixteen-year old witch embarking on her career as Cobweb Catcher. She may have magical powers, ride a broomstick, cast magical spells, and eat buzzard bacon, and drink toad’s milk, but deep down, she is like any other teen-ager, she has feelings like us all, with a need for love, reassurance, and with a desire to please people.
Indeed, she has only one relative, Aunt Rita, who leaves her for retirement in Florida. Her classmates at witches broomstick flying school laugh at her. How is a young witch, or a girl without friends or family, going to make it? We find ourselves rooting for Delores, and hoping for something to happen.
Fortunately, a ghost materializes in Delores house. McDuff is the friendliest ghost that you can imagine. With his pronouncement “Just remember, I’ll always have your back,” Rita’s fortunes get brighter. Soon, Delores’ great great great grandmother Mabel Verity Fletcher appears and Delores’ skills and confidence grow. With Mabel’s skillful nurturing, Delores gains new pride in her abilities.
Kathryn Jacoby has created a fantastic imaginative world where witches fly broomsticks, where broomsticks, mirrors, closets, everything talks, and even spiders have their nice sides. This action-packed book is written with a sense of humor and language that is sure to entertain and appeal to young middle-school readers, for whom the book is intended. The author sends a strong message about the importance of friendship. It’s a great book to read for Hallowe’en, but can be enjoyed at any time.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathryn Jacoby wastes no time diving into the wacky adventures of the slightly awkward, newly graduated 16 year-old witch, Delores Fletcher. In the tradition of the Fletchers who came before her, Delores takes over the town’s Cobweb Catcher position from her Aunt Rita, who has raised her; but, little does she know that her Aunt has been keeping a family secret that will change how Delores can do her job.

Delores Fletcher, Cobweb Catcher features a likeable main character in Delores who is bullied by her peers, but bravely takes on her responsibilities as the town’s Cobweb Catcher when her Aunt suddenly retires to Florida (lol). She befriends two quirky characters in a not-so-scary ghost, Geoffrey Collins McDuff, and her notorious great-great-great-grandmother Mabel Verity Fletcher, the original Cobweb Catcher. Then, there are the giant spiders (Argie and Maude) who are not quite what you would expect. All in all, the cast of characters is well-rounded and each is unique and interesting. In particular, I felt that Delores’ personal growth from the time she graduates at the beginning of the book to the time she becomes the town Pestologist was well done.

While it is a relatively subtle message, (given the action that is packed into the overall story), I thought that the discussion of ecological balance (i.e., we need spiders) was an important one. It turns out that Delores is an excellent cobweb catcher. She successfully “relocates” the giant spiders who make messy cobwebs all over town to an uninhabited island but it ends up upsetting the balance of nature. So imagine … what would happen if there were no spiders?! Uh-huh … problem, right? Leave it to clever Delores (and her predecessors) to come up with the solution!

I really appreciated the detail the author provides to immerse the reader into the “witch” culture. For example, this involved descriptions of green toad milk with warts floating on top, clever talking mirrors, a great detailed description of how to make a broomstick, lots of magic, and many other “witchy” moments. It was very entertaining to read all about this unusual and imaginative world.

My bottom line:

Delores Fletcher, Cobweb Catcher is a fun, middle grade romp exploring the world of witches through the eyes of a sympathetic main character, Delores, whom we meet when she embarks on her role as the town’s Cobweb Catcher. The book features a supporting cast of quirky characters; entertaining descriptions of the interactions among the witches, spiders, and ghosts in the story; and an overall message about the importance of ecological balance in nature. I think tween girls in particular would love reading about the world Delores lives in and I would recommend this book to children aged 7 to 12.

* This book was obtained from Amazon on a FREE DAY. All opinions expressed are my own. *

[Jennifer Priester · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part I really enjoyed this book, the storyline itself, characters, and descriptions were all really well done and entertaining.
Dolores, the book's main character, is clearly a good witch and a good person at heart. She has good intentions and like anyone just learning new skills she makes some mistakes. The proof of this is in the facts that she doesn't want to kill spiders but also wants to do a good job and keep the spiders from bothering people even though her original solution turns out to do more harm than good. I like how these aspects make Dolores feel like a real girl.
While I like the storyline, I'm not really sure how I feel about the ending. The final chapter felt like every other chapter in the book. While it was good I felt that it did nothing to prepare me for the end. Due to this I was completely surprised when I suddenly found myself reading the author's bio.
The book's interior layout was also a bit off, which bugged me a little. I didn't incorporate this fact into my rating of the book though. I don't feel like the fact that some paragraphs don't line up right will bother most people. I think only really picky people, and professional layout designers such as myself, will really take notice. It didn't take anything away from the actual story so this is the reason that I felt it was ignorable.
The only other problem I had with this book, and perhaps my biggest problem, was that one of the things I had expected to read a lot about throughout the story was the cat's.
Because of the dedication page at the beginning of the book, I had expected the cat's to play an important role and be a very large part of the story. I was disappointed to discover that they only appeared a few times and didn't appear to have any important reason for being there.
Before ending my review I feel there is one other thing worth mentioning. In this book, not everyone will see it, but there is a very real science lesson about the importance of all creatures. I loved how this lesson appeared in this story and how the author incorporated it. But while I really liked it I have to wonder how many kids reading the book will actually retain this information and learn the lesson presented.