★ "Fresh and satisfying for middle-grade readers." —Kirkus

★ “Timeless style … just right for reaffirming one’s belief in the power of story.” —Booklist

“Well-fashioned.” —Horn Book

"Vivid and intriguing" —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"The folksy language and silhouette spot art give this Pied Piper-inspired story an old-fashioned quality that fans of fairy tales will appreciate." —School Library Journal

The Brixen Witch

Stacy DeKeyser
Margaret K. McElderry Books / 2012

An enchanted coin. A witch’s curse. And rats, rats everywhere! What’s a boy to do?

When Rudi Bauer accidentally takes a witch’s coin, he unleashes her curse. Accident or not, he knows he’s got to fix things, so he tries to return the coin, only to lose it on the witch’s magic mountain just as the snows come. Plagued all winter by terrible dreams, Rudi tries to find the coin again in the spring, but it has vanished—and a plague of rats has descended on his village.

Then a stranger arrives and promises to rid the village of rats—for the price of the missing coin. Desperate to get rid of the rats, the villagers agree—but when they cannot pay, the stranger exacts a price too terrible for anyone to bear. Now Rudi is going to need all his courage—and some help from his savvy grandmother and a bold young girl—to set things right in this fast and funny adventure.

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Awards

  • 2013 Bank Street Best List