For fans of witchcraft and wizardry looking for a new, inclusive story, MY NAME IS MAGIC, is a story about finding strength from within and potential where you least expected it.

MY NAME IS MAGIC
by Xan van Rooyen
Tiny Ghost Press, September 2022
(via The Rights Factory)

Despite coming from a long line of powerful Finnish mages, and their name literally meaning magic, Taika can’t perform the simplest of spells.

Forced to attend Myrskyjärvi International School for the Magically Gifted on account of their mom being principal, Taika has a hard time fitting in. Sometimes, they wonder if not having magic has something to do with the fact they’re neither a girl nor a boy and if they’re fated to be Taika the Talentless forever.

Life goes from bad to worse when Taika sees a liekkiö and recognizes the spirit’s voice begging for help as that of their former BFF and major crush, Natalie Khumalo, whose recent absence from class hadn’t gone unnoticed. When more students go missing, Taika must take the lead in a race against time to save friends old and new before a powerful group of chaos mages can unleash the legendary Sampo, an artifact capable of either renewing the world’s waning magic or destroying everything Taika holds dear.

To rescue Natalie, Taika will have to journey to the liminal space between worlds where they’ll be forced to battle mythical monsters and their own flagging self-esteem. In doing so, Taika might just discover that magic—and love—comes in many different forms.

Xan van Rooyen is a genderqueer, tattooed storyteller from South Africa. They currently live in Finland where they find the heavy metal soothing and the cold, dark forests inspiring. Although they have a Master’s degree in music, Xan prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When they grow up, they want to be an elf—until then, they spend their time (when not writing) climbing, buying far too many books, and entertaining their shiba inu, Lego.