Calling All Witches!: The Girls Who Left Their Mark on the Wizarding World by Laurie Calkhoven
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As it’s women’s history month, I’ve been trying to focus my reading on women authors and female characters. A good friend of mine, who is also a big Potter Head, suggested I give “Calling All Witches!” a read. Based off of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling and focused just on the female characters, this book meets both of my criteria.
The book is divided into several sections. Students, Teachers, Villains, Moms, Political Figures, and Female characters from Fantastic Beasts. The first, and most prominent in the books and movies, is Hermione. She gets top billing, and well deserved. Then it moves to Luna and Ginny, and onto other minor and lesser known characters such as Parvati and Padma Patil, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, etc. I thought it was interesting that editors included a section for villains such as Dolores Umbridge, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Alecto Carrow. They included a short piece saying that they included these women because of the role they play and serve life lessons on what not to do with power. Interestingly, Narcissa Malfoy is not is this section but in the Moms feature. I thought that made for an interesting choice and the writer does offer an explanation, which I won’t spoil here.
If you’re a Potter Head, definitely give this book a read. This would also serve as a great birthday or general gift idea to a Potter Head in your life.
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