Witch Boy

The Witch Boy is a gorgeously illustrated and compassionately told story about a boy who struggles with his gender identity and the expectations for him. This fantasy is set in a world where magical girls are witches and magical boys are shapeshifters. Straying from these gender roles is not just taboo, but met with bullying. When a young boy, Aster, begins to gravitate towards witchcraft he must overcome societal and personal challenges in order to stay true to himself. I absolutely LOVED reading this story. It is heart warming, relatable, and engaging for any middle-school aged reader. Even as an adult, this story made my inner-child (who asked Santa for a Nerf Gun but got a Barbie) feel seen and appreciated. In a literacy class, this would make an excellent book to include when discussing theme. Students can identify both explicit and implicit themes present in the novel. Students will also be able to identify the overall, primary theme of this magical realism story and relate it to the “real world”.

I wanted to love this, but the hammered moral lessons were a bit too much. Some will identify with Aster, the witch who is a man -- not transgender or homosexual, as some would automatically assume, but defying the concept of gender roles. And it's true, toxic masculinity and femininity has poisoned generations of people, but the treatment here is so one-note, so forced, that it's hard to take it serious, instead of being a Saturday morning cartoon's very special episode. Too many characters are cliches instead of people.

On the other hand, the art is absolutely beautiful. I can forgive many sins to take all of that in. The story flows in directions with real urgency and unexpected twists.

I would recommend this, despite that.