 A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, by T. Kingfisher.
On page 1, the narrator discovers a dead body in the bakery. Things get worse for her from there. This is a YA fantasy with touches of horror, like a character whose magical power is to animate dead horses. Mona is a 14-year-old baker with minor magical abilities that only affect dough or baked goods. Wizards in her town are being murdered by the mysterious Spring Green Man. Then a government official demands that all wizards register with the government or be deemed traitors. Mona soon finds that she's the only wizard left who hasn't been killed, arrested, or fled. So she's the only one available to help when the town comes under attack. Having nothing to work with but dough, she'll have to get creative. I'm particularly fond of Mona's familiars: a sourdough started with an attitude, and a gingerbread man who communicates really well for a creature with no power of speech. The latter reminds me a bit of the magic carpet in Disney's Aladdin. And while it's never fully answered, Mona at least asks the right question for these teenager-saves-the-day stories: why didn't the adults do their freakin' jobs instead of dumping all this responsibility on a kid? Popsugar Reading Challenge: Includes a "granny hobby." 52 Book Club Challenge: Title contains "guide to." Booklist Queen Challenge: Underdog story. This Challenge Killed the Bookworm: A book by T. Kingfisher.
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