A Hat Full of Sky

A Hat Full of Sky is the second book in the Tiffany Aching arc, and the 32nd book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. It picks up two years after the events of The Wee Free Men and follows Tiffany as she leaves home to become apprentice to a witch named Miss Level. In her impatience to learn "real' magic, Tiffany starts casting spells beyond her ability and leaves herself open to possession. It's up to the Nac Mac Feegle to rescue her (though she actually ends up rescuing herself quite handily with a bit of help from them).

I really like this book, and Tiffany is really growing on me as a character. She's definitely being set up as a young Granny Weatherwax. Since Granny may be one of my favorite literary characters, seeing her at 11 years old is a real treat. All that power with very little experience is definitely going to result in some wisdom in a few decades. For now, it just means exciting adventures.

Watching Tiffany get into messes and then figure out how to get out of them is a lot of fun. She has a definite tendency to make mistakes, though it's mostly because she's so inexperienced. One of my favorite things about these books is that they always make a distinction between something being Tiffany's fault and something being her responsibility. It may have been the demon possessing her who stole all that money, but she's the one who has to make it up to him.

Now I just need to find some 9-year-olds to throw this book at. Good thing I'm related a to few of those.

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