So I finally did it. I dipped my toes in the vast ocean that is the Heidi Heckelbeck series. And I immediately had to stop and write this article because the first two books are insane. You have to hear about this.

Spoilers for Heidi Heckelbeck books one and two incoming fast.

Those Names

I’ll give you Heckelbeck. Heidi’s the main character. She can have whatever zany eye-catching name you want. Maplethorpe is still believable as a last name. Same with Principal Pennypacker (only because of that other one). But Mr. Doodlebee? Mrs. Noddywonks? Did Dr. Seuss write this book? Why are the names so weird? This isn’t Judy Moody, Daisy Dreamer, or Isadora Moon where the last names at least convey something about the characters. They’re just silly. And it’s not all the names either. There’s a few much more normal last names, like Mrs. Crosby.

That Ending

Book one ends on a hard cliffhanger. Even Dragon Masters has never pulled a cliffhanger this hard. Nothing is resolved, the book just ends. Heidi has a bad day at school and comes home. That’s the whole book. We don’t get to the school play. We don’t see Melanie’s comeuppance. We don’t see what happens. We just get this ending when Heidi gets back from school:

Heidi flipped through the pages. She stopped when she came to the one that read: “How to Make Someone Forget.”
“Perfect!” Heidi said to herself with a smile. “Let’s see what happens when Princess Smell-a-nie forgets her lines in the play….”
Heidi folded her arms.
One thing’s for sure, thought Heidi. I’m not going to forget who I am. I’m Heidi Heckelbeck, and I’m a WITCH!

What?! Really?!

She’s Literally A Witch. No, Really.

Yeah. This was not mentioned in book one at all until the last two pages. Why??? Her mom’s a witch too. And her aunt. They all know how to cast spells. She even has a magic witch amulet and a spellbook. Why didn’t Heidi try to use magic to make her day better? Or not go to school at all? Or at least mention why her mom wouldn’t let her use magic? Because the book is called Heidi Heckelbeck Has A Secret? Really? There’s no mention of the mysterious secret until the end. She doesn’t even struggle to hide being a witch at school. She’s just a normal girl without her magic stuff. Maybe books 1 and 2 were originally one book?

I don’t buy that she happened to not mention it on that particular day. Heidi seemed to know that she’d have to go to school well before this. Plenty of time to magically change her fate. She shows in book two she’s not against using magic for petty things.

Speaking of this, let’s get to book two. Heidi decides to get revenge on Melanie Maplethorpe for being mean to her by casting a spell to make her forget her lines in the play. She spends the majority of the book racing to collect ingredients for her spell before the play starts.

But here’s really crazy thing: There’s technically no proof that Heidi is a witch until she actually casts a spell in chapter 8. Sure she says she’s a witch and has a spellbook, but so does Ivy in Ivy+Bean. And we all know Ivy isn’t an actual witch (yet). Yeah she talks to her aunt who also says she’s a witch, but maybe her aunt is just humoring her. I guess it’s weird that she’s so committed to collecting spell ingredients the whole book. I thought it might end up like Ivy+Bean 1. Heidi thinks she casts a spell, then happenstance causes Melanie to forget her lines. I legit didn’t know if the author was trying to pull something until Heidi actually casts the forgetting spell. Even then, it wasn’t entirely clear because Melanie still could have forgot her lines from stage fright or something. Heidi does undo the spell later, and Melanie suddenly remembers her lines. So that’s pretty convincing, I guess. Maybe Heidi still isn’t a witch! I’ll have to get to book 3 already.

Don’t Get Me Wrong, It’s A Really Good Series So Far

Here’s a few reasons why:

• Heidi feeling down is really well written. She has a “favorite growly word” (merg). She makes her smiley face pancake into a frowny face. She stays mad well into the school day. She flat-out doesn’t reply to her art teacher. It’s kind of amazing the lengths she goes through to stay upset. Love it.
• There’s a few great quotes:
  • “Witches have to solve their problems without magic first. That’s why they go to school.”
  • “How can a house with two witches have a fake broom?”
• The style of spellcasting is fairly uncommon. Heidi has a spellbook, but has to collect ingredients to cast a spell, almost like a potion. Even Mirabelle‘s potions aren’t this involved. I’m interested to see if this is the only method of spellcasting in later books.
• Striped tights is a great character design choice. Check out the cover to book 4. You can immediately recognize Heidi disguised at Melanie just at at glance. Her tights continue to be a main focal point on almost every book cover. I guess she took a page from Judy’s books.
• In a shocking twist, mean girl Melanie isn’t the best character (yet). I really like Heidi’s character a lot. Probably the most I’ve identified with a main character in a chapter book series so far. I suppose Heidi is also a mean girl type (displaying mean, conceited, and bonus petty traits for those taking notes). At least in these first few books.
• Heidi also has a new middle-grade series and her brother has a side series. This point will be better once I’ve actually read them all. Until then, it’s a long swim to get there.

A Celebration Fit For A Mouse(hold)

Next month marks the one year anniversary for the Mousehold! I’ve got a very special article planned, so see you on September 1st!