Moth discovers she's a witch for the first time when she's thirteen and being bullied at school. To be more precise, Moth performs magic for the first time when she's being bullied at school. She doesn't find out she's a witch until later when she's talking with her mom about what happened. Moth's mom does not practice magic and forbids Moth from doing the same. This just makes the 13-year-old want to know more immediately. Coincidentally, at this same time, Moth meets a cat who happens to be possessed by the spirit of Mr. Lazlo, the former owner of the secondhand shop her mom now owns. Mr. Lazlo encourages Moth to do some secret investigating and a centuries-long cover-up unfolds.
It turns out that Moth's family was involved in the early witch hunts in Founder's Bluff, Massachusetts and throughout Salem and Ipswich in the 1690s. A group of witches including Moth's mother and grandmother were forced to flee and create a safe haven for themselves in the magical realm of Hecate. Everyone, take note: Hecate looks awesome. Like, flying around in the clouds and lounging on waterfalls awesome. But there's unfinished business in the witch and human realms that needs to be attended to. The inhabitants of Founder's Bluff today need to come to terms with the Founder's Bluff of yesterday. In the center of this is a cool girl, her best friend Charlie, a school play, the talking cat and some kick butt witchcraft.
This is an empowering, inclusive graphic novel for middle grades. It's been described as Sabrina the Teenage Witch (the original Archie version) meets Roller Girl and that's a pretty perfect match. Super cute and colorful, with an underlying message of acceptance.