Having fun working off the reading backlog

Kat Incorrigible
by Stephanie Burgis

Good plot twists.  Decent action.  Great story.

For the umpteenth time, if I were a pre-teen again, I'd have its sequels on my reading list and be planning my return trip to the library already.  Angeline, Elissa, Katherine, and a brother who never appears onstage are the children of a (whisper) witch who died when Kat was born.  When Angeline employs a love spell to bring her a husband who will pay off the brother's gambling debts and thus prevent her sister Elissa from making a martyr of herself by marrying an evil old dude, Kat has to rescue them both.

Very good present for a pre-teen reader in your family.  But save yourself the trouble and buy the whole series.