Bras & Broomsticks by Sarah Mlynowski (2006, Paperback, Reprint)

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Being fourteen is hard work--and nobody knows that better than Rache Weinstein. She's got a major crush on the two most popular guys in school, Raf and Mick; she's been dumped by her best friend since preschool, Jewel, and instead has hooked up with not-so-popular Tammy; she's got the rhythm of a baboon and so didn't get to audition for her school's all-important fashion show; she's a quasi B-lister instead of a coveted A-lister; her dad is getting ready to marry the most annoying soon-to-be-stepmother in the world; and now, to top things off, she's found out that her younger sister, Miri, is a witch. Seems mom is a witch, too, her decided to live life without her powers, and Miri's inherited her mom's special gift.

Oh, the horror, the unfairness, the indignity! Not only did Miri get the boobs, but now she got the special super powers! Miri, who makes anal retentive, obsessive-compulsive list-makers look like chaos magnets, can now do just about anything she sets her mind to. Things which include, with a little bit of nudging from Rachel, giving her big sister a dancing-is-my-friend spell, getting their dad to break up with STBSM, and banishing pimples from their lives once and for all.

Things don't work out exactly as planned, though, the way things tend to do when you mess with the powers that be. Just when Rachel thinks she's finally got it all--smooth skin, a hunky maybe-boyfriend, a spot in the coolest gig in school, a dad and mom that could be getting back together--things come crashing down.

BRAS & BROOMSTICKS is an absolute riot! I loved this first book in a new series by Sarah Mlynowski. Rachel and Miri make great sisters, the situations Rachel gets herself into are hilarious, and the overall feeling is that life is hard, but sometimes you just have to deal with it.