Mechanica

May 25, 2015
In a kingdom that both needs and fears faeries, orphan Nicolette’s late mother was a gifted mechanist, who created tiny clockwork animals and other creatures brought to life through Fey magic. On her 16th birthday, Nick discovers her mother’s hidden workshop—a welcome distraction from stitching new gowns for her cruel stepsisters, Piety and Chastity, in time for them to meet the young prince who will soon marry. There’s no need of fairy godmothers in this feminist retelling of Cinderella, since Cornwell (Tides) gives Nick all the tools necessary to make magic on her own (though she also puts her in the way of some helpful new friends). Nick’s narration can be claustrophobic; even as Nick’s social circle expands, readers remain largely inside her head. (That said, Cornwell’s evocative writing makes Nick’s intelligent mind a fine place to spend time.) Fans of fairy-tale updates will find it easy to lose themselves in this bright, romantic story, whose hero shows she can not only have it all but also do it herself. Ages 12–up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger.

Starred review from May 15, 2015
A spunky mechanic stars as a steampunk Cinderella who doesn't need rescuing. In a kingdom where Fey magic is illegal, orphaned Nicolette mustn't let on that she uses magic to clean her stepmother's house. To avoid trouble, she also keeps mum about her crafting of coal-powered contraptions in a hidden workshop. Nick's long-dead mother had been a superb mechanic, and when, on Nick's 16th birthday, the key to her mother's secret forge magically appears, the lonely girl throws herself into engineering. It's a small happiness in her life of drudgery, but it's nothing to the hope she feels when the king declares a Cultural Exposition Gala. The exposition, to honor the achievements of the "most brilliant inventors and artisans" in the land, highlights what's so compelling about this retelling: Nick has no desire to attend a ball or meet a prince. Instead, the young businesswoman aims to set herself up as a working inventor. With the help of her new friends, loving Caro and gorgeous, brown-skinned Fin, Nick's determined to make it to the event. No fairy godmother here; with a little help from her friends, Nick's responsible for everything from glass slipper to carriage. Though the premise will beg comparisons to Marissa Meyer's Cinder (2011), Nick and her friends travel a very different journey, sidestepping typical romantic structures to find their own way. A smart, refreshing alternative to stale genre tropes. (Steampunk/fairy tale. 12-15)

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June 1, 2015

Gr 6-10-This inventive and subversive "Cinderella" retelling features Nicolette "Nick," who at 16 discovers the existence of a basement workshop, complete with a furnace, glassblowing apparatus, and other mechanical tools powered partly by fey magic. In secret, she makes mechanical steampunk creatures and devices, skills learned as a child while helping her inventor mother. Nick's been in servitude to her stepmother and stepsisters ever since her father died when she was 10, shortly after his remarriage. The King has banished the fey from the palace and kept his remaining son and heir Christopher sequestered from public view for fear of losing him to fey assassins like the Queen and his older son. No fey goods or magic are allowed in Esting. The protagonist secretly sells some of her creations at Market, but her dreams of selling enough to become independent are soon dashed when her stepfamily discovers some of her contraptions. They destroy them and jeeringly begin calling her Mechanica. Will she still be able to create something to show at the Exposition Gala & Ball that's being held by Prince Christopher to celebrate Esting's inventors and artisans? Readers looking for an atypical fairy tale will find this refreshing because it relies less on traditional romance or happy endings, and more on living independently and unconventionally, loving freely, and being able to choose your own destiny. VERDICT Fans of Marissa Meyer's Cinder (Feiwel & Friends, 2012) will gravitate to this tale.-Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton

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