Courtney is a worrier - she's worried about EVERYTHING, from her mum and dad's constant fights, to her Gran being ill to the fact that her best friend Lois suddenly seems to be more interested in growing up and hanging out with mean girl Bex.
But then one day, during a particularly bad argument kicked off by her dad's discovery of a pig in their lounge (don't ask...) Courtney begins to feel a bit funny... a bit woozy... a bit like a dream is coming on - and then when she wakes up everything is better! Mum and dad are being nice to each other, the pig is going back to the animal shelter (really, don't ask...) and even Kyle, her older brother, seems to be making an effort.
Courtney becomes sure that each time she feels woozy and has her dreams, she's magicking her problems and worries away. Her mum, dad and brother aren't so sure though. Can Courtney convince everybody that her worry magic dreams are the perfect way to solve her problems? Or should she learn to worry a little less and to ask for help in some non-magical places more?
I really enjoyed McNiff's endearing 'Little Celeste', and I actually enjoyed this even more.
Courtney, like many 11 year olds, has a lot going on in her life. Her parents are arguing more and more, her gran is in the hospital and not doing well, and there's a new girl on the scene causing trouble between her and her bestie. Being a world class worrier she feels responsible for keeping everything together, and worries so much that she faints. Doctor idot (don't remember his name, but this seems accurate) diagnoses Classic Panic Attacks. Fainting is VERY rare with panic attacks but we'll move on.
I really related to Courtney's character, and have had to learn how to let go a little over the years. I do suffer from panic attacks and fainting (the two are definitely not related in my case) but I really did feel for her and her brother. I liked that he had a very different way of coping with their parents arguments, but both really needed to meet somewhere in the middle. Their relationship and arc through the story was my favourite part of this book.
I loved the dad character for some reason. He really is a saint to have put up with the mum's shenanigans for so long. He's characterful and shows his own weakness sometimes, which is great. The mum... well she needs a good slap to be honest!
Another wonderful and 'educational' (in the most fun way possible) middlegrade from Dawn McNiff that I would recommend.
The title for Dawn McNiff’s latest offering immediately caught my attention as I’m very much a worrier by nature and I’ve had to learn to curb the tendency to be able to function. So the idea that worrying might have a magical application was intriguing. But while Courtney’s worry magic is never discounted outright, at least not all elements of it are explained, Worry Magic is very much a contemporary middle grade novel, not a fantasy.
Courtney worries about a lot of things and she has the kind of magical thinking common to children, that as long as they’ve thought of a possible bad thing, then it won’t happen. This leads to her endlessly going over everything trying to think of every permutation of an event; an exhausting prospect for anyone, but when Courtney’s life becomes increasingly worry-ridden due to her parents’ failing marriage, her gran’s hospitalisation, and her best friend’s seeming drawing away, Courtney’s worrying spins out of control. The issues Courtney worries about are not just relatable to the book’s middle grade audience, but to all readers.
I related very much to Courtney’s sense of responsibility for making things all right and taking care of everyone, as I had similar feelings at the time of my own parents’ divorce—I’m sure I’m not the only one who shares that experience. As such Worry Magic was both a really easy book to read and a really hard one. It was an easy read, as it offered recognition and I think that is important for any child in a similar situation, showing them that they are not responsible for the adults in their lives. What simultaneously made it a hard read, for me at least, was the fact that it was hard to keep my own experiences out of the reading and my judgement of the various characters, especially Courtney’s parents.
What made Courtney’s parents hard to deal with for me, was their complete obliviousness to how their fighting affected their children. An effect that was exacerbated by the fact that Courtney’s gran, the person who is usually able to deflect some of it, is in the hospital. This obliviousness is most clearly demonstrated through their assumption that Courtney’s anxiety attacks are due to worrying about her gran, not her parents’ fighting. Instead it is Courtney’s big brother Kyle who sees what’s happening to Courtney and in his own way tries to help her. I loved the relationship between Kyle and Courtney. They might fight as all siblings do, but there is a deep and abiding love even if they never actually say it. Kyle’s reaction to their parents’ fighting is also the opposite from Courtney’s; where she tries to intervene every time, he retreats, first into his games and later literally to his room. They need each other to balance this out—Kyle learns to intervene and Courtney needs to learn to let go. I loved the siblings’ arc and to me they were the most wonderful part of the book.
What I found troublesome is the depiction of Bex, Courtney’s rival for her best friend Lois’ affection, who is portrayed as a mean girl and a bully. While I understand that making Bex a clear adversary is the fastest way to explain Courtney’s fear of separation from Lois, it felt a little easy. Learning that friendship isn’t a zero sum game is something that everyone has to learn at some point and usually this isn’t because the new party is a bully. It would also have made Courtney’s perceptions of Bex a little less reliable, which would fit in with her general narrative in the book and would avoid the stereotype of the bitchy mean girl.
There is a humorous tone to McNiff’s writing even when dealing with difficult, emotional issues. Yet the narrative, told from Courtney’s first person POV, is also a little unreliable. Because while Courtney believes she can actually influence events by her worry magic, how truly magical is it? Or is it more a case of people reacting to her anxiety attacks? Adults and older teen readers will pick up on the subtext quite quickly, before Kyle spells it out for Courtney later in the book. Which leaves much of what we read up to the interpretation of the reader, how much is truth and how much is Courtney’s perception? Is her mother the bigger problem in the marriage? Is Bex really such a mean girl? Does Kyle truly not care? Some of these questions are easier to answer than others.
Worry Magic was a good read. Charming and relatable, Dawn McNiff tells a wonderful story of a girl learning she doesn’t have to shoulder the world’s problems on her own and that sometimes asking for help is all you can do. This is a great book for middle grade readers and young teens, especially those who tend to be worriers themselves. I know I would have devoured Worry Magic when I was Courtney’s age. In fact, I devoured it even if I’m far past Courtney’s age.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
Courtney was feeling stressed. Her mum volunteered at an animal shelter and today she'd brought home a pig. It was a miniature pig but Dad would go ballistic when he sees it. Her big brother Kyle did what he usually did when his parents were about to argue. He went upstairs to play games on his computer.
Sure enough, when her Dad got home they started yelling at each other. Dad wanted Mum to get a paying job. Her mum knew everyone in town but couldn't get work. Courtney wanted to stop the argument but nothing she said made any difference. She started to get dizzy and fell flat on her face, out cold. She dreamed her parents would stop arguing, and everything would be alright.
When Courtney fainted, her parents stopped arguing. Her Dad picked her up and snuggled her into the couch with a blanket. Mum fussed over her and gave her pizza. It was going to be fine. She was sure she had made magic to solve the problem.
She had many more worries, especially her Gran being in hospital. Her best friend Lois had started going around with Bex who was horrid. The Worry Magic could solve all her problems, couldn't it? Was it really magic?
The doctor said it was anxiety and she needed to stay calm. He and her parents banned her from going to see her Gran. That wasn't any help with her Worry Magic she needed to see the old lady who'd helped her with her worries. What was she going to do?
This book is a perfect light read on a lazy Sunday. Tells us story of a young girl named Courtney, who worries about everything and she is really good at it! A lot of things were happening around her, like her parents constant fights, her grandma being ill in the hospital, the possibility of losing her best friend, Lois, to a mean girl from school, and there was also her big brother Kyle, who she thought was never there for her. Her worriedness became handy after she realized that she could worry on things, to make them better.
I like how the author has portrayed Courtney; an 11-year-old with sense of responsibility, worrying about people and things that are close to her heart the way a young girl could, making sure nothing are left un-worried, and trying her best to stop bad things that could happen.
All in all, Worry Magic was a good read. Courtney's worry journey is refreshing, amusing, and little bit emotional. And may be relatable even to those far past Courtney's age (I count myself in here lol).
Just like Little Celeste this book is a quick and endearing read. Courtney is a likeable narrator who worries about her grandmother being in hospital and her parents constant arguing. Courtney tries to prevent these arguments but it’s not working.
The book begins with Courtney’s mother having bought a pig home from the sanctuary she volunteers at, it’s a micro pig but it’s still a pig and Courtney’s father has been quite clear on no more animals. Of course as soon as he gets home her parents argue, only this time Courtney “falls asleep” as she calls it and has a fragmented dream which seen a happy calm family. When she wakes up it comes true – it’s magic.
Courtney’s ‘worry magic’ continues to come true whenever she has these dreams. But is it really magic? Courtney is quite a young narrator, so her faith in this magic is believable. As the story continues Courtney learns that not everything is fixable. There were a few moments in the book I really appreciated, like when Courtney went to find her father.
And this my book review if it wasn’t for one particular sentence:
“Really, these sound like classic panic attacks,” Dr Plop said.
I didn’t touch on this before because while I did enjoy Worry Magic but it was overshadowed from p52 onwards by that “diagnosis”. Courtney says she falls asleep, as far as the rest of her family is concerned she faints. Above is the doctor’s diagnosis.
I’m right bang in the middle of CBT (that’s Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) for Anxiety and this includes panic attacks which I’ve had for the last 2 years. They are horrible and terrifying but fainting is not common. In fact one of the first things I learned was that panic attacks don’t generally cause you to faint. Knowing that actually helped me.
Regardless of Courtney’s own belief in magic a medical professional is giving a diagnosis in this book. A diagnosis of “classic panic attacks” is wrong. Courtney doesn’t like this doctor, she refers to him as Dr Plop (he’s actually Dr Prop) so if Dawn McNiff’s intention is/was to undermine him by making the diagnosis wrong that’s fine but there should be a disclaimer somewhere. There isn’t. Courtney might not be having panic attacks but the “adults” in her world think she is and the doctor is stating that fainting is “classic” panic attack that's just... - no!
The information in Worry Magic is wrong. As far as the book is concerned a doctor diagnosis a young girl with classic panic attacks but there are no warning bells going off about the fainting. The prescription? “keep her stress levels down”
This worries me ok. I’m sorry but it does. As a reader you have a certain trust that what you read is correct, at least in contemporary stories. If Worry Magic was set in a land of Dragons and Purple Dandelion Fairies I would not be harping on about this, in such a land fainting might be classic in panic attacks.
I’m no expert on panic attacks but I believe that the hand-outs/leaflets I’ve been given by the NHS as part of my CBT are true. I also believe the person who is treating me and if that wasn’t enough a quick search on google confirms that fainting isn’t ‘classic’.
So I feel justified in my sadness over Worry Magic. All it needed was a little note explaining Dr Prop/Plop was wrong because just what if someone thinks panic attacks and fainting go hand in hand? I’d hope you’d seek medical advice for both but if you’re fainting its important because it’s not the norm.
This was a sweet and interesting read and I thought Dawn McNiff perfectly captured the voice of a twelve year old girl - especially one who is prone to worrying!
The story follows Courtney and the mad-eccentrics of her family. Her mother in particular is a little crazy. Volunteering at the local animal shelter she is constantly bringing home abandoned and mistreated animals but the Pig is the final straw for Courtney’s dad who is already stretched thin over worry for his own mother, Courtney’s grandmother, who is sick in hospital.
But as her parents screaming matches become worse and worse, Courtney feels the world around her begin to spin. She dreams her parents happy and when she wakes up, she is surprised to find that everything has gone back to normal - better than normal as not only are her parents actually being nice to each other, but all her problems seem to have disappeared. What else could this be but worry magic!
Confident in her new found power, Courtney now plots a way to see her grandmother, who up until now has been deemed too sick for visitors, but Courtney knows she can use the worry magic to make her better. If only she can get to the hospital. But as the week goes on, Courtney finds the worry magic working less and less - she needs to see her grandmother now before the magic disappears forever. But is it really worry magic making everything better… or is it something else entirely…?
There were many things I enjoyed about this book. The first being Courtney’s many worries that related very well to things I myself often worried about as a pre-teen. Things like people trying to steal my best friend, or wondering if I was cool enough or too childish compared to my other mates. It made me laugh to read these simplistic things that, once upon a time, seemed like such huge and important fears.
I also liked the variety of characters. Courtney’s brother Kyle, with his geeky habits yet caring heart really moved me with his clumsy attempts to protect his sister from their parents fights. And I liked how Lois, Courtney’s best friend, was a level headed and generally kind hearted person who didn't dwell on mistakes.
However what really grabbed me about this story was the underline that sometimes you forget to look at the world through a child's perspective. Parents often make the mistake of forgetting that kids can be particularly astute at picking up on bad situations, despite their efforts to hide away all the bad things in the world - such was the case with Courtney’s parents.
This book also teaches lessons in honesty and highlights the merits that come with being open and sharing your fears and worries with another person. No one should suffer in silence and I loved how Courtney shared everything in letters to her grandmother.
The only thing that I didn't like about this story was the mothers character - she just seemed very immature and caused so much conflict within the household. However I suppose from a younger persons perspective she would just appear like a really fun/cool mother but personally I couldn't help but find her annoying and selfish. Yet I could also see why Courtney turned into such a a worrier.
However overall I enjoyed this book and think it would be perfect for any girls who are prone to worries. Full of little ideas on how to deal with anxieties, it was a nice, reassuring sort of read that many pre-teens can easily relate too. Definitely a good book for those seeking some comfort or reassurance when the world feels unsteady beneath your feet. 3 stars!
The publisher kindly provided me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I think this book was very fun. As a middle grade book about a girl called Courtney who appears to be able to do some sort of magic when she worries about things, it is a very quick read, too, and I am pretty sure I would have loved this book when I was Courtney's age. I always worried a lot, about everything, and I often still do, so I'm sure it would've helped me. I really liked the morale of the story. I would definitely give it to any child who worries a lot and feels down because of it without hesitation.
ATTENTION: POTENTIAL SPOILER AHEAD
However, I would have liked to find out what happened to the grandmother in the end.