Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1

by Bobbi J.G. Weiss, David Cody Weiss

I'm 16, I'm a witch, and I still have to go to school?


Sabrina's the new girl in town and she's already made enemies. Jenny wants to be friends, but Libby, the most popular girl in school, has put the hex on Sabrina. And Libby's friends won't give her the time of day. Thank heavens for Harvey! He's really special. And he seems to think Sabrina is, too.

It's almost enough to convince Sabrina that everything will be OK. Then her aunts tell her the terrible truth: she's a witch! There's no doubt about it when she wishes dead frogs back to life in biology lab! But not even her newfound powers can help her when Libby asks Harvey to the dance -- and he says "Yes!" What's a witch to do?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Witches, Magic, Childrens, Paranormal, Fiction

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

About the author

Hi! Bobbi here.

I specialize in media creative writing: developing/writing online games and MMORPGs, books, comics, animation, and other products that tie into film and television shows, as well as the development and creation of new tie-in products. I've written everything from Nickelodeon’s RIDE novelizations and Disney's PIXIE HOLLOW MMO to interactive ebooks based on the Mooshka doll line and an original non-fiction text published by Heinemann entitled WRITING IS ACTING: HOW TO IMPROVE THE WRITER’S ONPAGE PERFORMANCE. I've also self-published—an original horror novel that involves the Peter Pan mythos entitled HOOKED (Publishers Weekly gave it a great review!).

You can find my entire resume and cover gallery at http://www.BobbiJGWeiss.com. I also post Facebook, tumblr, twitter and other social media sites. Find links to my social profiles on my website.

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s pretty much the novelization of the pilot episode of the TV show. Sweet nostalgic fun. And quite a good story too.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

The nostalgia :)

[Madeleine Knutsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nostalgin is real.
Blir bara så sugen att se serien igen då böckerna är exakt som avsnitten.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, I'm a nerd. I loved the comic when I was little so of course I liked the tv show and got suckered into reading some of these YA books. We all have our things that we are ashamed to admit we like, right?!

[Gavin Hetherington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a selection of 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' books for a trip down nostalgia lane in a YouTube video (complete with as re-creation of the original iconic Sabrina opening): https://youtu.be/GOKZ-IxwX-4

[Stephanie ((Strazzybooks)) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nostalgic fun. The writing was detailed which was great for recreating the scenes from the show (this is a novelization of the first episode and the man dough episode), but was sometimes annoying when describing the characters' thoughts and actions. Sabrina 4 lyfe.

[Zuli · Rating 5 out of 5]

new personality unlocked

[Lyon.Brit.andthebookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished a total nostalgic comfort read…Sabrina the Teenage Witch 🧙‍♀️💫 Based on the 90s series with Melissa Joan Hart…this first book includes the novelizations of the “Pilot” “The True Adventures of Rudy Kazootie” and “Dream Date” I could literally say the lines along with it thanks to how many times I’ve rewatched the show over the years 😅📺It’s been so fun rewatching episodes with my girls lately🕯️🍁It was the perfect cozy companion for our recent fall getaway 🍂✨

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lyon.brit.A...

[Kelsie Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent start of the series, excited for the books to come

[Jennifer Hahn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope. Nope. NOPE.

Jag såg en annons där någon ville sälja hela den här bokserien och mindes vagt att jag läste den när jag var liten. Lånade första boken på biblioteket istället för att köpa hela serien (tackochlov för det). Det enda jag egentligen mindes från serien var att jag gillade karaktären Salem mest pga hans roliga kommentarer. Jag hoppades att boken skulle väcka en massa minnen. Men nej. Ingenting. Och Salems kommentarer var inte roliga längre.

Dessutom:
Magin makes no sense. Det finns ingen röd tråd i storyn (förutom Harvey). Läste någonstans att boken är baserad på tv-serien och att författarna har använt storylines från flera avsnitt i en bok. Det skulle förklara en hel del. Det märks också tydligt att det är två män som har skrivit om en tonårstjej. Sabrina har noll intressen. Förutom kläder och hennes crush Harvey. Och kläder kan inte ens kallas ett intresse i hennes fall. Det poängteras bara att hon tar en timme på sig att välja kläder. Alla karaktärer är extremt endimensionella. Och det är inte bara karaktärerna som är dåligt skrivna... Jag vet ärligt talat inte om jag kan komma på något positivt att säga om den här boken.

Nä. Barn och ungdomar förtjänar bättre än det här.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - Dutch paperback

Review follows later

[Dzenana Van Fleet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much as expected: a little thin but pretty fun (probably because of nostalgia). Very much follows the first few episodes of the TV-show.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice little nostalgic read. A lot of the jargon was def 90's dated which tbh I didn't mind as I'm a 90's child but still dated nonetheless.

[Julie Decker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sabrina, newly living with her weird aunts Hilda and Zelda after the split-up of her parents, discovers she's a witch on her sixteenth birthday. But new witches don't necessarily control their powers very well, and Sabrina gets in trouble bringing dead creatures back to life, turning people into pineapples, levitating in her sleep, and so on. At least a boy at her new school likes her. Or does he? Can nothing go right?

I never watched this show so I guess I'm probably not the audience for it, but I found the entire thing embarrassing. I've never liked stories in which a person creates havoc with magic and then can't do anything about it except cringe, and that's basically what happened here throughout the story, but what's worse is the cutesy portrayal of the witches' society and the frustratingly simplistic happily ever after wrap-ups (though that may be just because it was designed to fit into a half-hour show). Characters like Sabrina are frequently very passive as well--things just happen to them and then they have to deal--and everything that's played for laughs isn't actually funny at all. (If you're wondering, I read this because I managed a children's book section and liked to know what to recommend to customers. I wouldn't recommend this.)

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was utterly obsessed with Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a little girl.

Yeah, I realise I could have spent all that time reading more worthy novels, but what can you do? I adored Sabrina. From grade 4 - 7, I religiously followed the tv show and read all the books like the bible (ironically, I never really read the bible - and I went to a Catholic school).

Anyway, I tossed up whether to actually add the series to my goodreads, and in the end decided that they were a huge part of my life - craptastic reading or not - so in they go.

[Yoyomaus Die Büchereule · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zum Inhalt:

"Ich bin sechzehn. Ich bin eine Hexe. Und ich muss trotzdem noch zur Schule gehe?!"

Zum Beispiel wegen Harvey. Er ist ein Typ, auf den die Mädchen fliegen. Auch Sabrina findet ihn etwas ganz Besonderes und möchte ihn in ihren Bann ziehen. Immerhin kann sie tote Frösche wiederbeleben. Doch wie steht es mit ihren Hexenkünsten in Sachen Liebe?


Cover:

Das Cover hatte für mich einen absoluten Wiedererkennungsfaktor, da ich die Serie als Kind geliebt habe. Zu sehen ist hier die junge Hexe Sabrina, wie sie dem Betrachter entgegenblickt. Raffiniert auch für das Cover das Gesicht von Melissa Joan Heart zu verwenden, welche in der Serie die Hexe verkörpert hat. So weiß man gleich, was auf einen zukommt. Und Kater Salem, welcher vor Sabrina liegt, hatte für mich auch gleich einen Wiedererkennungsfaktor. Da musste ich einfach zugreifen, zumal ich die Pilotfolge nie gesehen habe.





Eigener Eindruck:

Sabrina Spellman lebt bei ihren Tanten Hilda und Zelda. Was sie bis zu ihrem sechzehnten Geburtstag aber nicht weiß ist, dass sie und ihre Tanten Hexen sind. Mit ihrem Geburtstag ändert sich das schlagartig, als ihre Tanten ihr eröffnen, dass sie eine Hexe ist. Glauben will das der Teenager aber nicht, schließlich muss sie sich erst einmal an ihrer neuen Schule zurechtfinden. Doch bereits am ersten Tag geschehen in der Schule eigenartige Dinge und Sabrina muss einsehen, dass ihre Tanten wohl recht haben. Dass ihr Kater Salem sprechen kann, unterstreicht ihr neues Leben noch einmal. Hin- und Hergerissen zwischen ihrem geheimen Leben als Hexe und komplizierten Zaubersprüchen sowie der Schule, einer heimlichen Liebe und einer fiesen Konkurrentin, versucht Sabrina ihr Leben zu meistern und schlittert dabei von einer Katastrophe in die Nächste…



Die Serie „Sabrina – Total verhext“ war in den 90ern und 2000ern eine der beliebtesten Serien für Jugendliche überhaupt. Dort erlebt man immer wieder spannende Abenteuer rund um die jugendliche Hexe Sabrina, die versuchen muss ihr Geheimnis des Hexenseins zu verheimlichen, jedoch immer mal wieder einen Zauber loslässt, der aber auch nach hinten losgehen kann. Außerdem konzentriert sich die Serie auf die Liebe zwischen ihr und den beliebten Harvey. Dass der ihr immer fast auf die Spur kommen könnte, macht alles natürlich noch viel komplizierter. Bücher zu Serien waren vor allem in den 2000ern sehr beliebt und so war es kaum verwunderlich, dass auch diese Serie als Buchform verfasst wurde. Die Schreibweise zu dem ersten Band ist detailliert und sehr angenehm zu lesen. Wer die Serie also nicht kennt, der kann sich hier alles sehr gut vorstellen. Trotzdem schafft es das Buch in meinen Augen aber nicht humorvolle Szenen so umzusetzen wie in der Serie und die eine oder andere Frage bleibt dann doch offen. Das erste Buch beschreibt die Pilotfolge sowie zwei weitere Episoden aus der Serie, bei der Sabrina einmal lernen muss, dass sie eine Hexe ist, dann muss sie sich als Babysitter beweisen und ihre Tanten backen ihr einen Mann für den Schulball. Das ist amüsant und lässt alte Zeiten wieder aufleben, aber irgendwie fehlt dem Buch das gewisse Etwas. Es plätschert so langhin, was wirklich schade ist. Da fehlt einfach der Pfiff. Wer die Serie mochte, der wird hier seinen Spaß haben und gern in alten Zeiten schwelgen, aber ich kann mir nicht vorstellen, dass sich jemand für diese Bücher wirklich begeistern kann, der die Serie nicht kennt.



Fazit:

Diese Bücher, welche zu einer Serie gehören, sind meist nur etwas für Fans der Serie, weil sie ganz genau wissen, worum es geht. Außenstehende Leser werden an solchen Büchern wohl eher weniger Spaß haben. Deswegen empfehle ich das Buch auch nur Freunden der Serie!



Idee: 5/5

Charaktere: 4/5

Logik: 4/5

Spannung: 3/5

Emotionen: 3/5





Gesamt: 4/5



Daten:

ISBN: 9783932268328

Sprache: Deutsch

Ausgabe: Fester Einband

Umfang: 190 Seiten

Verlag: Panini Books

[H. Bentham]

Welcome Back to the 90s!
•⁣
I have searched high and low to get my hands on this book ever since I started collecting Sabrina books in my youth (that's like 20 years ago now, eep) and I was so thrilled when I found a copy from an online seller a few months back. Took me a while to read this bec I wasn't in the mood for anything MG/YA for a while, but when I needed something comfortable and familiar, this was perfect for it.

This is a novelization of three episodes of the 90's TV series: The Pilot, The True Adventures of Rudy Kazootie, and Dream Date. I don't remember seeing these eps in their original run (I vividly remember later episodes, when Melissa Joan Hart was considerably older, though), but I fairly recently saw The Pilot online (as well as the OG TV-movie that was aired even earlier than the series) and this captured the whole feel of Sabrina, its quirks and kid-logic, as well as the comedy that I didn't think would work as well on book pages, but it did. :)

I have several unread books in my collection (all recently acquired bec the online shopping of nostalgic things is a super hard habit to kick! haha) but I'll get to them eventually. *Just like the rest of my ever growing TBR! LOL
•
*This review also appears as a bookstagram on my IG: @bentchbites

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back on the nostalgia reads: I stumbled across a mention of Sabrina the Teenage Witch the other day and thought I’d see how the books have aged. I didn’t watch the show (maybe an episode or two at a friend’s house?), but we had a few of the books hanging around, and I’m pretty sure the library had more.

In this first book of the series, Sabrina wakes up as a sixteen-year-old…and as a witch. The magic of this particular witchy world is…let’s say it’s a little loosey-goosey. There are technically rules (can’t turn back time without permission!), but for the most part Sabrina can just point, wiggle her fingers, maybe say a few words, and presto chango*! Magic. Accidentally turn someone into a pineapple? No biggie.

I’m guessing the plot points pull from multiple episodes of the show, because the plot is semi-incoherent (various events strung together by magic and little else) and Sabrina is a scatterbrained little ditz whose only interests are Harvey (Harvey Dwight Kinkle, poor kid) and clothing—though she doesn’t seem to have any sense of style beyond “it’s the 90s, gotta have those tan slacks and satin tops!”

Still, the sense of possibility here is kind of fantastic. More recent YA about magic typically comes with all sorts of rules and limitations, but if I had magic…? Give me the sort that Sabrina and her aunts play with, where you can create a temporary date with Man-Doh and the point is more about frivolity than about saving the world.

*I checked the spelling with Merriam-Webster, but surely presto change-o would make more sense?

[Loviisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright, don't get me wrong - I love Sabrina, but this book just wasn't it. I think I'm more into Chilling Adventures of Sabrina rather than the original one. I like everything related to witches and I think I was hoping that the original Sabrina is gonna be a bit more interesting. I mean it was, but only the last 5o pages when aunts Hilda and Zelda made Sabrina a prom date out of dough, because Libby (a bitch) asked Harvey to be her prom date. The first half was about Sabrina turning 16 and her aunts telling her that she's a witch. Before reading this book I thought Sabrina knew that she was a witch, but I guess I was wrong.

It was a quick read. I think people who love Chilling Adventures of Sabrina won't enjoy it that much because there's no dark twist to it that CAOS has.

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

The 1996 TV show was funnier than this book, but maybe I should read the second book to be sure if I like the book series. Besides, I found some outfits I liked:

pg. 27: tan slacks and black shirt with gold snowflake print (Sabrina)

pg. 60: tight denim vest, black long sleeved shirt, and pastel floral print skirt (Hilda)

pg. 120: black dress with blue midriff (Sabrina)

pg. 130-131: long gray zip-up vest, black sweatshirt, and jeans (Harvey)

[Sandra Girard-Demontigny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was very good. It reminded me of my youth when I watched the TV show. I really like the characters. Sabrina's aunts are very funny and endearing in their own way. I can't wait to read more.

Ce roman était vraiment bon. Ça m'a rappelé quand j'étais plus jeune et que j'écoutais la série téléviser. J'ai beaucoup aimé les personnes. Les tantes de Sabrina sont drôles et attachantes à leurs façons. J'ai hâte de poursuivre cette série.

[Cadence Boudreaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t realize there were Sabrina the teenage witch books (same as smallville) AND WHAT A FUN REVELATION THIS WAS!

I was obsessed with this show when I was younger , I borrowed every single dvd from my aunt and watched them on my macbook in the span of like a month?

The book is pretty much just a recap of the show but it’s so enjoyable to be back in the sabrina universe I can’t even complain!

[Samie_TheBookMouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai grandi en écoutant la série Sabrina l’Apprentie Sorcière et c’est donc avec un brin de nostalgie que je me plongeais dans ce roman. Je ne m’attendais pas à apprécier ma lecture en raison du public cible assez jeune. Pourtant j’ai dévoré ce livre ! Il est humoristique et léger. Les personnages sont certes superficiels mais tout de même attachants. Le type de lecture parfait entre 2 romans plus « sérieux » car l’histoire est légère et demande peu de concentration.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is basically a retelling of three episodes of the TV series. But it captures the shows tone well and was an enjoyable read.

When Sabrina Spellman turns sixteen she finds out she is a witch and her various spells have disastrous results.
If you liked the series then this is a great bit of nostalgia for you.
I read this one in one sitting which is always good so I am happy with this read.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never watched the TV show, but this is one case where I think this didn't translate super well into a book. Like, I'm not sure if this is how the episode went, but when Sabrina changes a baby into an adult man, she just leaves him for the parents to find him. They literally never address it again or the fact that that issue was completely unresolved.

[Kiki_chieuse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une relecture légère. Magie, humour, famille. J'ai plaisir à retrouver cet univers pour un moment de détente.

Une ado un peu égocentré avec des pouvoirs qu'elle ne maîtrise pas ça donne quelques moments cocasses. Le genre de petite lecture frivole qui passe bien après une lecture riche en émotion.

Quelques raccourcis un peu faciles. Rien qui ne me choque pour une lecture jeunesse. Je n’avais pas découvert la saga par le premier tome, à l’époque. Cela à peut-être joué dans mon attirance pour celle-ci. En effet, ce premier tome n’est pas fou-fou. Il ne promet pas un fil rouge tangible à ce stade (hormis la romance avec Harvey). J’ai toutefois passé un bon moment et mon envie de redécouvrir la saga est toujours présente.

[Chelsea May xxx · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a good book but I did sadly found the first 50 pages of this book boring and not very engaging at all. I did keep reading though and I found the rest of the book interesting. I liked how the book kept to the tv show as much as it could. This was so much nostalgia and I can’t wait to read more of these books. Xxx

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book series is different than the tv series, but the tv series is different from the movie too. This book isn't the most intriguing from the start, but it a decent start to the books. Not necessarily the most attention grabbing for middle school readers; better for high school or young adult (or adult) readers. May be worth a read if you're a big Sabrina, the Teenage Witch fan.

[Tania · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Sabrina and was a fan of the show. I’ve had this book forever, but never had a chance to read it until now. Because I liked the show this was okay, but I did find that it didn’t really flow. This included the first episode along with two other episodes from the show combined.

[Sophie Sternschuss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explores the new world of Sabrina learning she is a witch. From trying to control her powers, getting her first job and trying to tell Harvey she is head over heels for him. An easy read just like watching the tv show