The Time of Green Magic

McKay, Hilary. The Time of Green Magic
July 7th 2020 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Abi and her father have gotten along fine with just the two of them, but when Molly and her sons Max and Louis join the family, there are changes. The biggest is that they all move out to a large, ramshackle house away from London, and have to adjust to a new life. There are a lot of repairs necessary to the house, and a babysitting for Louis, Esme, joins the group. Abi starts to notice that the books she is reading seem to come to life in a more concrete way than usual, and a character from a book joins Louis as his friend. At first, Iffen is a snuggly cat, but as he grows, he becomes more and more sinister. Max has a crush on Esme, a French girl who is studying art at the local college, the family settles into their new routine, and Abi has to deal with the magic of books that isn't as benign as one would hope.
Strengths: Like Anna James' Pages and Co., this has a strong and supportive family with some magic thrown in. The house is fantastic; if you have to move to a new house, it might as well be somewhere big enough for a vintage rocking horse and magic enough to bring the voyage of Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki (1948)to life.
Weaknesses: This didn't deal with the magic as much as it did with daily life in Abi's family. While I enjoyed it, the story moved very slowly, and I don't think my students would stick with it.
What I really think: I think I will stick with Ellen Oh's Spirit Hunters for a similar tale of moving and younger brothers getting into trouble with magic. Fans of this author's works will definitely want to look at this title, though!