Review_CHILDREN’S
70 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ OCTOBER 14, 2019
Review_CHILDREN’S
crush Dougie, 16-year-old Heather agrees
to a camping trip on the Scottish coast’s
remote Black Cairn Point. Heather; her
best friend, Emma; Emma’s combative
boyfriend, Darren; and their friend Martin
entertain themselves with campfire tales
of pagan rituals and a boozy game of Truth
or Dare. Later, Heather, Dougie, and
Martin discover an ancient burial site on a
nearby hill, where Dougie unearths a
strange brooch. But after a heated con-
frontation with Darren, Martin stalks off
and doesn’t return, setting off a shocking
series of events. A year later, Heather and
Dougie, who is in a coma, are the only sur-
vivors, and Heather’s story has convinced
investigators, and her family, that she was
responsible for her friends’ disappear-
ances. She must now come to terms with
the past, or, if she can’t persuade the
authorities of her innocence, forfeit her
future. McFall (the Ferryman trilogy)
compensates for a predictable setup and
stereotypical characters with the fore-
boding, isolated beach setting, even if a
shocking final twist doesn’t feel fully
earned. Ages 14–up. Agent: Margot
Edwards, Margot Edwards Rights
Consultancy. (Jan.)Hearts, Strings, and Other
Breakable Things
Jacqueline Firkins. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,
$17.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-328-63519-8
In her first YA novel, Firkins, a play-
wright, screenwriter, and comics artist,
offers a modernized, prudently pared-
down retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield
Park. Three years after her single mother’s
death, 17-year-old Edie leaves foster care in
Ithaca, N.Y., to live with her wealthy aunt
and uncle and their two spoiled teenage
daughters in Mansfield, Mass. Her intent is
to “bury her head in her books” and hope-
fully win a scholarship to college, but her
status-conscious cousins have other plans;
they want to make her over so that she’ll fit
into their upper-crust society. Meanwhile,
Edie is sidetracked by attention from two
potential love interests: childhood friend
and next-door neighbor Sebastian, who
unfortunately already has a beautiful girl-
friend, and handsome Henry, who has a
reputation for being a player. Part steamy
romance, part comedy of manners, the
story effectively mirrors Austen’s writing
style with its sharp-witted dialogue andwith real-world issues (declining library
attendance and homelessness) and fantas-
tical elements. Sidebars (“A Sidebar
About Legends”) penned by a mysterious
author and signature illustrations by
Bagley offer charming details. Ages
10–14. Author’s agent: Faye Bender, the Book
Group. Illustrator’s agent: Alexandra
Penfold, Upstart Crow Literary. (Jan.)Dangerous Alliance:
An Austentacious Romance
Jennieke Cohen. HarperTeen, $17.99 (448p)
ISBN 978-0-06-285730-9
In 1817, Lady Victoria Aston, the
17-year-old second daughter of Lord
Oakbridge, has lived an altogether charmed
life. With her older sister, Althea, happily
married, she’s largely left to her own
devices, helping to manage the family’s
English estate, studying animal husbandry,
and rereading her favorite Jane Austen
novels. Circumstances change, however,
with revelations about Althea’s abusive
husband, Dain. To protect her sister and
prevent their
home from
falling into
Dain’s villainous
hands, Vicky
must marry by
the end of the
season. Looking
to the characters
in her beloved
Austen novels
for support,
Vicky weathers suspicious accidents, rising
tensions, and multiple suitors, including
Tom Sherborne, the childhood best friend
who broke her heart years earlier. While
Vicky takes center stage, interspersed
perspectives from other characters,
including those of Sherborne and his half-
sister, deepen the story’s themes. Cohen
portrays a young woman who is very
much of the time but modern in her
thoughts about marriage and women’s
roles. Frequent references to then-popular
novels and a thoughtful historical note
add additional context to this spirited
romp. Ages 13–up. (Dec.)The Last Witness
Claire McFall. Sourcebooks Fire, $10.99
paper (272p) ISBN 978-1-7282-0024-8
Hoping to get closer to her friend andshe creates magic through music, but
when her admission is revealed to be the
result of mistaken identity, she must
prove her worth or risk expulsion. Flutist
Amelia Jones, 12, yearns to follow in her
deceased mother’s footsteps as a Maestro,
one of the world’s most powerful and
respected musicians. After arriving at the
Mystwick School, however, she’s plagued
by mistakes, misfortune, and magical mis-
haps. Suspecting she may be haunted by
the other Amelia Jones—the one whose
death sparked her acceptance—Amelia
enlists the aid of her antagonistic roommate
Darby and her new friend Jai to figure out
what’s happening at Mystwick. Imagining
a world in which music and magic inter-
weave, Khoury (Last of Her Name) offers
up a fanciful tale populated by engaging
characters and concepts (such as the
musicat, capable of purring people to
sleep). The story’s dark undertone and
emotional stakes enhance Amelia’s
struggle to succeed against steep odds,
and Federica Frenna’s stylized illustra-
tions further the book’s charming feel.
Ages 10–12. Author’s agent: Lucy Carson,
the Friedrich Agency. (Jan.)A Girl, a Raccoon, and the
Midnight Moon
Karen Romano Young, illus. by Jessixa Bagley.
Chronicle, $16.99 (392p) ISBN 978-1-4521-
6952-1
Born in the Lancaster Avenue branch of
the New York City Public Library to a cir-
culation librarian, 10-year-old Pearl is
well-known to its staff, and loves books,
her neighborhood, and the library’s garden
statue of Edna St. Vincent Millay. When
the statue’s head disappears, Pearl’s scream
brings the entire neighborhood running.
The head’s theft makes the paper and draws
developers to the underresourced library,
which needs repairs that the city refuses to
finance. As the library loses importance as a
“neighborhood hub,” Pearl and her mother
aim to save it. Neighbors and library reg-
ulars rally to help, as does Francine, the
neighborhood new girl who slowly shows
Pearl the power of friendship. But it’s the
raccoons living in the basement, who
publish a newspaper and ally with Pearl,
who help her in her quest. Part mystery,
part coming-of-age journey, Young’s
(Hundred Percent) story interweaves realis-
tically flawed, fully formed characterscontinued from p. 67