The Drama with Doomsdays

Scott Reintgen's The Drama with Doomsdays is a funny, magical school story for 10 year olds about a seer whose journal fills up with a boy's name she never wrote.

What happens

This is the second Celia Cleary book. Celia can see the future, but only for people close by. She can also walk around inside her visions, looking for clues.

These days she mostly uses it for small rescues. On a cinema date with Jeffrey she slips out to catch a tray of drinks before a worker called Vincent sends them flying. Her reward is a free orange drink (which she hands to Jeffrey with a waggle of her fingers and one word, "Magic").

Then, at lunch in the school courtyard, she smells fresh cookies and campfire smoke at the same time. In the vision that follows she sees HERSELF for the very first time. Her journal flips open on its own and fills with the name Patrick, in bubble letters and hearts and about thirty different colours.

It isn't her handwriting. And Jeffrey is sitting right next to her! So who wrote it, and which Patrick is it about? Her friend Sophie grabs an old yearbook, Celia grabs the family's book of magic, and the hunt is on.

Celia tells the story herself and she's very easy company. She's brave and curious and a little bit awkward (she says "brain fart" on a date and instantly regrets it).

There's lots of everyday silliness too. Her mum's exercise bike instructor yells about climbing giants, and the neighbour whoops along through the wall. A pug called Slug is more famous online than the rest of the school put together.

If your reader likes their magic mixed in with friendships and lunch tables, this is a lovely fit.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

This one carries straight on from The Problem with Prophecies and gives away how that book ends, so it's best to start there. Celia is also still grieving her Grammy, and the sadness turns up in quiet moments at home.

There's a gentle bit of romance as well. Celia and Jeffrey hold hands at the cinema, and she worries about whether they're officially going out (and about a first kiss). For a reader who's curious about crushes it'll probably feel very relatable.

What to read next

If they'd like another girl from a family full of psychic gifts, try Kalyn Josephson's Ravenfall. Anna sees deaths when she touches people, so it's a fair bit spookier than this one.