Angus Cairns is cursed to serve the McGonagall family as a household brownie (a magical person in charge of cleaning), a job he takes very seriously. Unfortunately, the next family in line lives in the United States. Packing up and leaving Scotland is hard enough, but being bound to tidy up after the world’s messiest girl? It’s almost more than Angus can take.

This is not the life for a brownie! I am supposed to be inside, keeping things tidy, not having an adventure!

I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did, but Diary of a Mad Brownie checks all the boxes. Heartfelt, funny, and full of magic. I loved the use of “supporting documents” in the form of teacher’s notes, emails, transcripts, and fictional excerpts, which provided insight and a peek at the world beyond Angus’s diary. Most notably, though, is the effective use of humor, which is literally Laugh Out Loud funny and masterfully anchored into the characters and world.

I went belowstairs, where I spent a very distressing two hours trying to package myself up. I will not write of the humiliating failure of this attempt, save to say that packing tape and curly brown hair are not a good combination.

I’d highly recommend Diary of a Mad Brownie to readers of all ages who love magical creatures and fantasy races.

Please take note that the book has been repackaged under the title Cursed. We happen to own two copies of this book due to this slightly-confusing change!

⬢ ⬢ ⬢ ⬢ ⬢  FIVE STARS
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