The Big Shrink

Upside-Down Magic #6

by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, Emily Jenkins

When Marigold's magic makes her shrink, it turns into a BIG problem.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Audiobook, Fiction, Childrens, Magic, School

Audible Audio

First published September 3, 2019

About the author

Sarah was born in Montreal, Canada. After graduating with an honors degree in English literature from McGill University, she moved to Toronto to work for Harlequin Enterprises. While she never met Fabio, she used her romance publishing experiences to fuel her first novel Milkrun.

Since then, Sarah has written four additional novels for adults: Fishbowl, As Seen on TV, Monkey Business, and Me vs. Me; the New York Times bestselling middle grade series Whatever After; the middle grade series Upside-Down Magic (with Lauren Myracle and Emily Jenkins); and the teen novels Bras & Broomsticks, Frogs & French Kisses, Spells & Sleeping Bags, and Parties & Potions (all in the Magic in Manhattan series), as well as Gimme a Call, Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have), Don't Even Think About It, Think Twice, and I See London, I See France. Along with Lauren Myracle and E. Lockhart, Sarah also wrote How to Be Bad, and along with Farrin Jacobs, she wrote See Jane Write, a guide to writing. Sarah also co-edited two bestselling charity collections (Girls' Night In and Girls' Night Out), and has contributed to various anthologies (American Girls About Town, Sixteen: Stories About That Sweet and Bitter Birthday, 21 Proms, First Kiss (Then Tell), Fireworks, and Vacations from Hell).

Sarah is also a co-founder of OMG BookFest, a celebration of books aimed at the early to middle grade reader (ages 7-12) that brings together commercial and award-winning authors with underserved local communities for an exciting experience of books, games and activities.

Sarah's books have been translated into twenty-nine languages and optioned to Hollywood. She now lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

Reviews

[Ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very easily our least favorite of the series. My kids may be aging out of it, as they actually tired of all of the fart references, they were siding with the principal a lot, and found many of the kids to be whiny. As my son said, it seems like they took A LOT of pages just to say, "with great power comes great responsibility."

[Anne (ReadEatGameRepeat) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just so cute and fun - I probably just like this series more and more every book.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books in this series have always been among my list of go to books that I like to read after some of the more serious ones that I tend to read a lot of. This series has always put a smile on my face and given me lots of laughs. So I was quite happy yesterday when I was at the library and saw this latest book in the series on the new release shelf. Couldn't wait to get home to read it. Loved the latest craze at Dunwiddle Magic School that all the students were so excited about. Who wouldn't want a Dregg, a small dragon inside an egg that once it's released can be taught to run and jump, do somersaults, and lots of other tricks? I'd want one for sure! It kind of reminded me of my 3rd grade class 11 years ago when all the girls had to have a tamagotchi, or 3 or 4. And kudos to the authors for introducing Rainey, a non binary student not seen in the previous five books.

[Jen Stice · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so bad. I read numbers 1-6 and it got worse and worse with each book. My number one problem with this book is that the tutor for the girl who shrinks things is a young adult and she's completely unsafe and irresponsible. She takes the girl out of the school building without any permission. Takes her to a coffee shop where the girl wants to order a hot chocolate but instead to look cool like the older girl she orders a coffee. The older girl also has her shrink a bunch of school library books and make some useless which the librarian asks for them to make bigger in the tutor. Just walks out of the room and ignores him. The tutor also tells the girl not to care what anyone thinks and that she should have the right to destroy anyone's property if she wants to (the playground equipment) The tutor also encourages her to protest against the school administration, which leads me to my second least favorite part of the book.

This one had complete disrespect for their teacher who is kind through the interior series. They completely disobey her and even when she asks kindly that they stop playing with their little toys in the middle of class. Nory and the other girl in the upside down class who can shrink things puts a load of kids into danger by encouraging them to rebel against the principal and shrinking them all down. They're angry at the principal Because he's not letting them play with their toys. They disrupt school time and are disrespectful to the teachers and yet feel like they should be given anything they want. At the end of the administration gives in and says that they can bring their toys to school on Fridays and play with them. So the book pretty much taught that you can do whatever you want and the adults are the ones who are holding you back and they're not ever there to help you. They're just trying to be mean to you. Which encourages rebellion from parents and adults who actually do love kids and trying to keep them safe.
Also, it mentions a kid is non-binary, in case anyone wants to be aware of that

[Stefanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love these authors (Sarah especially) but I found this entry to the series boring and I couldn't get into it.

[Myrtle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally predictable and ended way too soon. Also, Marigold's tutor was totally one-sided and the book ended with somethings unsolved.

[Kate Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appreciated that this book featured a non-binary character and a protest, although I'm not sure it was the best example for students who might want to stage a protest...

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

While this was probably our least favorite of the series, it was still a great read together. Tons of fart jokes in this one! But also good discussion about how kids can be involved in standing up for important causes.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have loved all the books in this series, and this one was no different! For sweet and fluffy books, they really pack a punch and leave elementary school readers with a lot to think about. This installment focused on Nory and Marigold leading a protest against specific toys being banned during school hours. For such a quick read the book was nuanced in discussing why protests are powerful, but also how to be responsible with that power, and how to know when to take a compromise. Already looking forward to the next one!

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a good and exciting read.

[zapkode · Rating 5 out of 5]

{My thoughts} – I really am a huge fan of this series. I think it is brilliantly written and I always look forward for the new releases in the series. I have enjoyed getting to know Nory and the other students that are a part of the Upside Down Magic Class. This series truly helps you to explore your imagination.

In this all new book Nory and her friend Marigold decide to start a peaceful protest. They are upset because the principal has banned the newest toy fad from being allowed at their school period. He found the toy to be obnoxious and disruptive therefore he banned them from school grounds. Nory comes up with the idea to plan a protest and Marigold is the one that has to help her execute it.

The whole idea is to shrink as many children in the 5th grade class as a means of proving that they all stand together. Marigold is the only student that has the ability to shrink others students. She agrees to go along with the plan because she has been practicing making things big and she believes she will be able to make all the students bigger after they are done with the protest. Which she is hoping will result in them being able to bring their toys back on school grounds again.

I’m sure you can guess that it turns into a bit of a disaster, I mean what can one expect. Marigold is an Upside Down Magic kid, which means she doesn’t always have full control of her magic. A lot happens in this book that makes you understand that friendship, unity, and sticking to one’s beliefs are key to a successful peaceful protest. However, I’m sure that they could have found a more logical means of protesting had they considered the possibility of putting more thought towards it.

This book was a great addition to the series. It had all the key elements of all the previous books and it kept me interested in the story line. I look forward to when my littles will be able to read these books with me, or when I can read them to them, because I really enjoy the stories that unfold within their pages. I also look forward to reading any future books written by these three authors as well as previous books I have not yet had the pleasure of devouring.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Big Shrink by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins is the sixth in the Upside-Down Magic series. This one is primarily from Marigold Ramos's point of view. She is the deaf student who has a problem accidentally shrinking people and things.

Before settling into Marigold's point of view, the first chapter is from Nory's. She was the protagonist / narrator for the first four books. She's at home for Thanksgiving and is introduced to the hot new toy, Dreggs. They are mini-dragons that hatch out of eggs and are active during the day. The more one plays with them, the more tricks they will learn. Nori goes back to her aunt's and to her school with a stash of these Dreggs to give to her friends.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm...

Next book: Hide and Seek.

[Eremite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite in the series, but maybe that's just because the kids are disobedient and foolish. That is, they act like kids. And they learn their lesson in the end so I suppose I should be OK with it.

[Maggi Andersen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series is going downhill. Kids will still probably enjoy it.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

better and definitely humorous

This installment was better than the last couple. I much prefer that Nory took a back seat to Marigold. It was time for another kid to shine. I don’t think that Ms Starr would have been comfortable allowing Marigold to go off with Layla after the first couple of lessons, especially as she was only a graduate student. I would have expected she’d want to be there to help supervise and watch. She could have said it was so she’d learn so she could help other UDMs in the future. A good teacher knows she still has to learn new techniques to improve her teaching skill as she goes along too.

I especially liked the Big Shrink protest. It’s great to make sure kids have the right to be heard, and they did so in a mostly safe and inventive way. Yes, turns out that Marigold got ahead of herself and wasn’t able to unshrink anyone initially, but that actually made the situation a lot more believable due to the unforeseen circumstances. That Marigold even initially said no to the principal was reasonable. She didn’t get aggressive or attack and even get overly dramatic about it, just said it wasn’t enough. That was fair, and had she been able to shrink and unshrink others as she’d hoped, then the principal may have had to change his offer, or explain better why that was the best he could give them. He understood it was the fad of the moment and would likely flare out when a new fad appeared, such as Moon Boppers. The kids may not have understood that, since the Dreggs were so popular.

Marigold’s character has a lot of potential. Having her with a hearing loss and hearing aids, plus such a unique and new magic - she could just as easily been the main protagonist of the series and not Nory. They could have even changed the focus and alternated with each new book.

Definitely a better book overall than the last two. Hopefully that trend continues.

[Hiroko Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Big Shrink” is the 6th book in the Upside-Down Magic series, about these kids who’s magic is different from most peoples. Nory is an upside down fluxer(shapeshifter) since unlike most fluxers, she combines animals when she fluxes. Her classmate Marigold on the other hand, doesn't fit into any of the 5 F’s of magic: Fluxer, Flyer, Flare, Flicker, Fuzzy. Marigold’s magic shrinks things. And not even always on purpose. And she can’t bring them back to normal size. She starts getting tutored by Layla, someone who also has size related magic, who teaches her how to make things grow bigger. Meanwhile, Dreggs(dragon egg toys) are the latest trend in the 5th grade, but soon the principal decides to ban them. Nory and Marigold are both outraged, and plan a protest by having Marigold shrink the protesters- The Big Shrink. But being new to bigging up things with her magic, will she be able to return the students to their normal size? Will The Big Shrink have been worth it?

I really enjoyed this book, like I’ve enjoyed reading the others in the series. The Dreggs remind me of all those trends at school such as slime, fidget spinners, Pokémon cards, Rubik's cubes, etc. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the other Upside-Down Magic books or to people who like fantasy books.

[Arya · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like this series has been decreasing in quality from the first book, and this one took a nosedive. I suspect the authors ran out of go-go juice on this one. Plot is dull. Very little happens. Extremely little creativity or world building added to the upside down magic world. The focus shifts away from our heroine multiple times, and it just doesn't feel like it's her story. The writing is poor and ineffective. The potty jokes were rampant: uninspired filler for the empty story. The main lesson learned feels hollow, while other things weren't addresssed. I couldn't wait for it to be over (I'm reading it to my child, so I had to finish it). We kept waiting for the big shrink...and waiting and waiting. We kept making predictions about how it would happen. We were wrong. Story was unpredictable, but that doesn't make it automatically good. It was hard to predict because it was lame, and we expected more exciting stuff much earlier. We fantasized about the shrink happening at the dregg party by accident and how much fun that would be. They could ride their dreggs, for instance. But we didn't get anything close to what we imagined it could be. This one was a disappointment.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about finding a collective voice- and the forms it may take- and about leadership. As usual, the 5th graders make some mistakes along the way, face accountability, and learn/grow through it all.
Kudos to the authors for seamlessly including a non-binary student, Rainey.

Read with my 4th grader.
I feel like this could have been my favorite book but missed the mark because of Marigold's tutor Layla and the very mixed message surrounding her. First, let's point out that Layla has a very annoying way of talking and I honestly skipped half of her phrases because they were cluttering to try to read out loud and did not add anything to the story. In fact, there were a lot of reference to this character as being irresponsible and flighty, and not really caring about who she impacted. It isn't clear if Marigold trusts her either. Seeing as she was encouraging Marigold to protest peacefully, it makes for a confusing message for children reading the book who have to try to tease out if speaking up for what you believe is for strange people or a real way of impacting change for all.

[Asher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A girl who can shrink smaller than a blade of grass learns that sometimes the tiniest things carry the biggest lessons.

This book leans heavily into humor, and while the jokes may land for younger readers, I felt they often broke the seriousness of the story. The constant silliness sometimes pulled attention away from the moments that were supposed to matter most. Still, there’s no missing the heart underneath: the story is all about accepting yourself and finding strength in what makes you different. Marigold’s shrinking ability is handled with warmth and creativity, and the message that “it’s okay to be you” shines clearly.

Even if the humor felt younger than the rest of the series, the book still left me with that spark of encouragement and belonging that makes the Upside-Down Magic series worth continuing.

[Adrian Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a cute series that I started reading with my niece as a pen-pal/long-distance-book-report series. I've enjoyed them. This one wasn't one of my favorites in the series...but also not my least favorite. There are some valuable lessons for Nori and Marigold and the rest of the UDM class to learn, but I also think there were some valuable lessons that were glossed over and/or not directly addressed (like chosing battles and fighting for things bigger than yourself). I also think that the UDM kids are getting a bit bratty...but I have a pretty narrow comfort zone with kids in general IRL, so I think that could have something to do with it. Still, it's a fun and mostly adorable distraction read in the turmoil that is the world in 2020.

[Alexia · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Nory goes home for Thanksgiving break, her sisters shows her these toy dragon eggs with miniature toy dragons inside, These toys are called Dreggs, and soon every kid at Dunwiddle wants one. When the Dreggs become a disruption, the principal bans them from school entirely even during recess. Nory and Marigold decide to protest the ban by shrinking anyone who wants to protest. This book had some really funny moments but also doesn't shy away from the fact that there are both positive and negative effects that come with protesting. We also don't learn too much more about Marigold but, it was still a great book

[Caerigna Lunalti · Rating 2 out of 5]

I see what the author was working at, and in general the story itself is a good one. My problem is that maybe people are that oblivious, and generally go stupid at anything new. Personally, though, I don't think the author is giving kids enough credit. Sure they're still figuring out social interaction issues, emotional moderation, and all that. Yet they are literally built to be learning on the go, and are far quicker and more observant than portrayed here (or indeed usually given credit for by grownups). It really annoyed me in this book multiple times, and despite the overall story being well done, so I can't in good conscious give a 3rd star to this one. Consider this a 2.5 from me.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one had a fun premise. They basically have the latest fad that gets banned from school, and they have a peaceful protest to change the rules. Marigold shrinks people for the protest, because she eventually learned to big things up again. But things go wrong. (Poor Bax).

This one did seem to get a little political. I mean they had the protest and all which was fine, but they also mentioned a non-binary kid in passing. I thought that was unnecessary since the kid didn't have a part in the book at all. Just throwing things in to throw things in nowadays.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An elementary chapter book about the kids in a magic class who all have magic that's just a little bit different. This book features Marigold who makes things big and small but has little control. Marigold finally gets a tutor to help her understand her magic a little more. Meanwhile the class gets obsessed with a new toy that the school doesn't like. While Nori is the star of this series, each book features a differn't class member.

[Jaymie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I somehow missed this book in my reading. I enjoyed Marigold's story. It was great to see the development of her magic. She also finds her voice in this book, which I loved. Big mistakes are made, but big growth, too. It's interesting that the series seems to focus on Nory, but each of the other kids also get to be featured in a book. I tend to enjoy the other kids more than Nory's stories. They are still good, but I *like* the other kids more.

[Emilio-Jay · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one was so bad. The kids were so whiny and the protesting message was hard to take seriously when it was about toys and the teachers and principal were actually right about them being so annoying and disruptive. Genuinally had to skip through some of it because it was such a downgrade for the series.
The mentor was weird... too. I thought they were setting up a confrontation about her irresponsible teaching and how some teachers aren't the best fit but she goes completely unchecked.

[Piper Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great! I love how the authors made a book about Marigold's struggles, (You can tell by the cover and once you read it.) and perseverance. You have to read the whole series to understand Marigold's powers and how she would have struggled in daily life with them. Really, it was a fun story for me and I hope to read it to my brothers.👌✌️👍👏📙📗📘📚❤️

[Maya Ma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it might be that I am not a middle schooler anymore. But I really dislike this book. It reminds me how the middle schoolers act- all bratty and stuff. But I have to say: I would love a Dregg myself. They sound so cute and I would love a pet dragon. (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Movie Dragon vibes)

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a favorite—I liked the focus on Marigold and how she learned to deal with her shrinking magic, and I appreciate that the book was trying to help kids learn about protests, but I thought the way it did it was kind of lengthy and boring, and not on a very meaningful topic. Nory was a bit annoying in this one too.

[Anjela Bugher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another good entry in the UDM series, but what I want to mention most of all is that there's a passing mention of a non-binary kid in it! One of the kids who's part of the protest is just up-front described as non-binary, and they/them are their pronouns. It's the first time I've ever seen that in a YA book, let alone a kid CHARACTER. Very nice!