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Summary
Summary
From the author of Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy comes the story of a friendship between two girls set in Victorian England, with magical machines, wizards, witches, a mysterious underworld, and a race against time.
Annabel Grey is primed for a proper life as a young lady in Victorian England. But when her mother suddenly disappears, she's put in the care of two eccentric aunts who thrust her into a decidedly un-ladylike life, full of potions and flying broomsticks and wizards who eat nothing but crackers. Magic, indeed Who ever heard of such a thing?
Before Annabel can assess the most ladylike way to respond to her current predicament, she is swept up in an urgent quest. Annabel is pitted against another young witch, Kitty, to rescue the sacred Moreover Wand from the dangerous underworld that exists beneath London. The two girls outsmart trolls, find passage through a wall of faerie bones, and narrowly escape a dragon, but it doesn't take long for Annabel to see that the most dangerous part of her journey is her decision to trust this wild, magical girl.
Sparkling with Karen Foxlee's enchanting writing, this is a bewitching tale of one important wand and two most magical girls.
" Foxlee's] heroines have grit and heart, and they are willing to get dirty. And they do. Foxlee's nicely wry tone and moments of incongruous humor break up the tension, while Annabel's race against time in a harrowing journey deep under London keeps the pages turning. Deliciously complex and convincingly detailed."-- Kirkus Reviews , Starred Review
"Kids who enjoyed Foxlee's Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy and fans of Hardinge's Cuckoo Song will find similar otherworldly appeal in this enthralling adventure."-- The Bulletin , Starred review
"Memorable for its vivid imagery and stylish, thoughtful prose."-- Horn Book Magazine
Author Notes
Karen Foxlee was born in Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia on February 3, 1971. Before becoming an author, she worked as a registered nurse. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing from the University of the Sunshine Coast. Her first novel, The Anatomy of Wings, was published in 2007. It won the Emerging Author Award at the 2006 Queensland Premier's Literary Award, The Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book South East Asia Pacific Region, and The Dobbie Award. Her other works include The Midnight Dress. Her title Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy made the finalist list for the Aurealis Awards in 2014. This title also made the Readings Children's Book Prize 2015 shortlist. She wrote the middle-grade novel, A Most Magical Girl, which won the 2017 Readings Children's Book Prize. Her most recent novel is Lenny's Book of Everything (2018). It won a 2019 Indie Book Award in the Children's category.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-7-Thirteen-year-old Annabel Grey's world is turned upside down in one day when her mother leaves, sending her to live with two elderly aunts she has never met, and who live in a world of magic, witches, faeries, and wizards. Immediately, Annabel goes from a model student who has learned the lessons put forth in Miss Finch's Little Blue Book of Manners to a "most magical girl," though she knows nothing of wands, potions, and broomsticks. She has little time to learn, as she is immediately sent on a quest through dangerous Under London in search of the Moreover Wand; if she does not retrieve it before the full moon, the evil Mr. Angel will destroy all good magic and London may be doomed. Wild young witch Kitty is charged with accompanying Annabel through dank and narrow passages, and the girls rather reluctantly team up against trolls, dragons, and other perils. Jayne Entwistle narrates, contrasting Annabel's proper personality with the dirty things around her and performing the other characters so that the elderly aunts sound old and fragile, Kitty is tough and streetwise, and the trolls are humorously gruff. VERDICT Despite charming characters, fierce battles, and grave dangers, this tale of unlikely friendships and good triumphing over evil moves quite slowly and often predictably. ["An additional purchase for libraries where Foxlee's Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy proved popular": SLJ 6/16 review of the Knopf book.]-MaryAnn Karre, Vestal, NY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Annabel is outraged when her mother removes her from her conventional young ladies' school, sets her up as an assistant in her great-aunts' magic shop, and promptly disappears. But the tears and repining with which she greets her new life diminish as she takes up her role as "Valiant Defender of Good Magic." She learns that she is the Annabel Grey destined to retrieve a wand that will vanquish an evil force threatening all of London. Her quest takes her underground -- over the Lake of Tears, through the Kingdom of Trolls, and into the lair of a smelly dragon -- with the help of wild Kitty, a "betwixter" who traverses both fairy and human worlds, and a hairy little troll named Hafwen. Like many quest fantasies, at heart this is a tale of inner development, a theme Foxlee (Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, rev 1/14; The Midnight Dress, rev. 1/14) treats with compassion. She gently mocks notions of propriety in this magical, quasi-Victorian world, valuing "be good; be brave" instead for girls' moral formation. Here, a teacup is a means to prophetic visions; an umbrella a simile for a dragon's wings unfolding ("like a thousand umbrellas being opened in unison"). Despite its conventional good vs. evil scenario, this is memorable for its vivid imagery and stylish, thoughtful prose. deirdre f. baker (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A young Victorian girl is called to duty in a battle between witchy good and evil.Except for odd, compelling visions seen in rainy-day puddles, Annabel's an unremarkable white, middle-class girl schooled in proper behavior. But when her mother unexpectedly sends her off to live with elderly aunts, Annabel arrives on the eve of a crisis in the heart of London. The aunts are witches, of course. London's aging witches and wizards, members of the Great Benevolent Magical Society, must rely on Annabel to avert disaster. Mr. Angel is the inventor of a machine that extracts dark magic by feeding on sad things: mourning ribbons, unsent letters, loss and sorrow of all kinds. He plans to feed Annabel to it as the ultimate sad sacrifice, thereby harvesting enough dark magic to immerse the world in evil. Foxlee deftly wields the tropes of witchery: the importance of wands, the character and flight of broomsticks, and the selection of magical objectsfor Annabel, a seeing stone. Her heroinesbesides Annabel, there's Kitty, the dark-browed, green-eyed "wild girl" from the streets, and a young troll with aspirationshave grit and heart, and they are willing to get dirty. And they do. Foxlee's nicely wry tone and moments of incongruous humor break up the tension, while Annabel's race against time in a harrowing journey deep under London keeps the pages turning. McKay's three-dimensional art suffers in its matte, black-and-white rendition here, but it's still a pleasant complement.Deliciously complex and convincingly detailed. (Historical fantasy. 9-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Foxlee follows her well-received Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy (2014) with a new story of magic and adventure. Here almost-13-year-old Annabel Grey finds herself suddenly uprooted from her life as a proper Victorian lady and placed in the care of her two great-aunts, who run a magic shop. Almost immediately upon the girl's arrival, the evil wizard Mr. Angel visits the shop to announce that he plans to take over London using dark magic. This would be a lot for any girl to take in, but Annabel also learns that she has magical abilities, which she must use to save the city. With the help of a wild girl and an unruly broomstick, Annabel is thrown into a dangerous adventure beneath the city. Young readers will be enthralled by her quest, during which she encounters a secret river, trolls, and a dragon while uncovering her true self. Fast-paced, but at times repetitive, the imaginative narrative is a classic tale of good versus evil sure to be popular with fantasy-lovers.--Smith, Julia Copyright 2016 Booklist