Cilla after years of traveling with her family has been grounded in the United States, with her Control Freak of a grandmother. She feels she has no control over her life. That changes when the local Goth sees Cilla reading a grimoire, and invites her to the local coven. Add in an advanced English class performing The Scottish Play, with each student to interpret their character uniquely, and Cilla soon finds herself exploring old and new traditions, while fending off a current threat to her exploration.
Tropes for this book include:
- Academic Athlete: Emilio is revealed to be one. Trey's father wants Trey to be this, but so far it's not the case.
- The Ace: Emilio is one; he is an excellent student, a talented artist, and a qualified soccer player.
- Alpha Bitch: "Queen Bee," aka Alyssa. After nearly getting Monty drowned and then finding him outside, she and Val forgive each other and become friends again.
- Because You Were Nice to Me:
- The reason why G-ma goes to church with conservative Christian nieghbors? When her husband, Cilla's grandfather, died, all the neighbors pitched in to help her raise her child and move through her grief.
- This is also why Emilio is friends with Try, a Jerk Jock.
- Character Witness:
- Mother Faith is one for Val and Cilla when she comes to the Macbeth play to talk to G-ma about how Wicca isn't the same as black magic.
- G-ma in turn is one to Mother Faith; they attended Walmart protests together and Mother Faith attends church.
- Coming of Age Story: Cilla studies Wicca to study her inner power, and to learn how to understand the world. She undergoes Character Development while finding both and bonding with her grandmother.
- Cynicism Catalyst:
- Zig-Zagged with Val; on one hand she's joined a coven and no longer cares to be friends with everyone from school, especially after as a teenager setting Alyssa's hair on fire by accident. At the same time, she is rather nice to Cilla, does not use Wicca for anything other than spiritual enlightenment and strictly believes in Wiccan belief in Laser-Guided Karma "three-fold" that mandates against evil acts.
- G-ma is strict about alternative thinking like Wicca is because she got badly burned from an alternative lifestyle during the 1960s, with her husband dying from poisoned LSD and leaving her a single parent.
- Desperately Seeking A Purpose In Life: Cilla after a lifetime of traveling from place to place and then being forced to settle down with her grandmother and Annoying Younger Sibling wants to find out what she's good at and what her inner power is. She wants to win the Macbeth contest so as to prove to her family and herself that she has a purpose.
- Did Not Think This Through:
- Really, Emilio, bringing your best friend who is a Jerk Jock to a Wicca's coven meeting? What Were You Thinking??
- Trey and Alyssa's prank, which involves a Mentos and diet Coke bomb in the witch's cauldron, and Val's snake Monty. The explosion sets Cilla's hair on fire during the performance, nearly drowns Monty, and causes the audience to panic.
- Disney Death: Monty, Val's snake, suffers this in the climax. After nearly drowning in the witch's cauldron and exploded out of it, he scurries off in a fright outside. Val goes into Heroic BSoD, since at best Monty is alive but lost forever, and at worst a hawk eats them. She only recovers when Alyssa finds Monty and returns him.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The reason why Trey pulls a prank that almost gets Val expelled: she turned him down for a date, repeatedly, and he thinks that she and Cilla cursed a soccer game.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Downplayed, but Cilla does get easily distracted when Emilio is in the vicinity.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: And Cilla earns it. After saving Val from a Frame-Up and admitting to her grandmother that she has joined a coven, they manage to find a compromise that lets her and Val attend the coven and the church's youth group. Cilla also gets the boy.
- Easily Forgiven:
- Cilla doesn't comment on Alyssa nearly getting Monty drowned, but Val and Alyssa make up after Alyssa finds Monty outside and reunites him with Val. Alyssa is also allowed to share the Macbeth prize with Val the day she gets back from suspension.
- Trey does get suspended for his prank and will likely have it marked on his permanent record, but he's welcomed back to school without too much dislike. He could've easily been arrested for bringing a homemade bomb, even if it was Diet Coke and Mentors to a school event.
- Entitled to Have You: Trey because of this is Not Good with Rejection when Val turned him down for a date. It's why he makes fun of her for dressing like a Goth.
- Heroic BSoD: Val suffers one after Trey's prank leads to Monty having a Disney Death.
- Hidden Depths:
- G-ma at first seems like a Control Freak who makes it a point to know everything about Cilla's life outside of school, and she only gives Cilla driving lessons so as to watch her while the latter helps with delivering organic vegetables and yogurts. When she and Cilla bond over making kefir, though, G-ma reveals that in her past she joined a 1960s farm in Tennessee that had a preference for organic and experimentation, and met Cilla's grandfather there. The reason why she's strict and strictly Christian is that her husband died from poisoned LSD, and her Christian neighbors helped care for her and Cilla's mom.
- Val aka "the Goth" is more than an outsider, Tsundere and a closet Wiccan: she gets excellent grades, befriends Cilla when the latter is adjusting to her new life, watches Monty Python, and makes an effort to not hurt anyone or cause harm to them.
- Emilio is more than the cute Latin American boy that plays soccer and shows an interest in organic foods, helping out his mom with her grocery store; he also wants to study Wicca to connect with his own grandmother, a curandera in Mexico.
- Emilio argues that Trey has these. We only have hints onscreen of this.
- Jock Dad, Nerd Son: Inverted; Trey's dad is into academics, studying and working hard while Trey has a strong passion for soccer.
- Kick the Dog: Kick the harmless snake in this case. Alyssa steals Monty to help frame Val on performing night, putting him in a cauldron filled with Mentos and Diet Coke. Though she realizes that she's gone too far when Val informs her that Monty could have drowned. Also applies to what she nearly did to Val.
- Licked by the Dog: Played With, since in this case the "dog" is actually a tiny python named Monty. Val's genuine affection for him, however, shows that she is really compassionate.
- Missing Mom: Val's mom went to Los Angeles to pursue her career as an actress. She hasn't appeared since.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Referenced in the story, about Trey as an athlete at an academic charter school where soccer is the only sport with scholarships and career opportunities.
- Off Screen Moment Of Awesome:
- Whatever happened during Trey's period of suspension, whether it was his dad giving him the riot act or Emilio serving as a Morality Chain, so that he Took a Level in Kindness.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Alyssa gets this when her actions in framing Val nearly drown Monty, as Val informs her; desert snakes and water do not mix.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Cilla is like this with her classmates at first, and the coven uses alternative nicknames for each of their members. Justified as Cilla has always had to move, and she acknowledges that she labels people. The more Character Development she gets, the more often she calls people by their real names.
- Replacement Goldfish: Discussed during Monty's Disney Death by Cilla and Val's dad, while Val is in Heroic BSoD. Then subverted when Alyssa redeems herself in finding Monty.
- Revenge Before Reason: Trey and Alyssa with their prank involving a homemade Coke and Mentos bomb and Val's snake. They go too far, and both of them realize it after they have a Near-Villain Victory and Val informs Alyssa that Monty nearly drowned. Cilla is not impressed, though she accepts them being Easily Forgiven by Val and Emilio respectively.
- The Scottish Trope: The original play appears, and this trope is discussed.
- Reasonable Authority Figure:
- Mother Faith is one at the coven, which is good because she understands why some coven members sneak out but still believes in giving people chances.
- G-ma is also revealed to be one, even though she's upset when Cilla tells her about the coven, she believes her granddaughter about Trey pulling a prank and tries to put a stop to it.
- Serious Business: For Trey, soccer. Hence why he gets "carried away" with his prank, as Emilio puts it.
- Shown Their Work: The author accurately depicts Wiccan practices, organic produce growing, kefir cultivation, Mexican culture, and religious history, not necessarily in that order. She also digs into Turkish roots for certain scenes.
- What You Are in the Dark: Emilio warns Cilla of Trey's prank, though he doesn't know the details, despite being seen as a possible accomplice in the prank. Cilla does at first accuse him of the latter, but she quickly realizes that's not the case.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Mother Faith and Emilio tell Cilla this, Mother Faith about Cilla's courage to prove Val's innocence, Emilio about Cilla's ability in soccer.
