Etiquette & Espionage

Starred review from January 14, 2013
When troublesome 14-year-old Sophronia is sent off to attend Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, she is none too happy about it. Her despair evaporates, however, when she learns that, at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s, “finishing” means learning the finer points of deceit, espionage, and assassination. Far from a stodgy old castle, the school is a giant dirigible that floats above the moors. Effortlessly blending Victorian, paranormal, and steampunk elements, Carriger offers a feast of words (flywayman, mechanimals) and names (Dimity Ann Plumleigh-Teignmott, Phineas B. Crow) to lunch on in her YA debut, which is set in the world of her Parasol Protectorate books for adults, but several decades earlier. Carriger deploys laugh-out-loud bon mots on nearly every page (“But I don’t want to be a vampire drone,” Sophronia whines to her sister early on. “They’ll suck my blood and make me wear only the very latest fashions”), and Sophronia is a capable and clever heroine. Amid all the fun, the author works in commentary on race and class in a sparkling start to the Finishing School series. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary Agency.

July 1, 2013

Carriger's (Timeless) new young adult series, "Finishing School," is set in the same fantasy Victorian England as her earlier "Parasol Protectorate" novels. Fourteen-year-old Sophronia Temminnick is sent to Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality to become more ladylike. But unbeknownst to her mother, this school's curriculum includes not only culture, grace, and poise but also stealth, weapons, and poison. Sophronia, although bright and perceptive, has no magical ability; she has to rely on her quick thinking as she attempts to navigate a world of werewolves, vampires, mechanimals, and other steampunk-type residents. Actress and comedienne Moira Quirk provides a charming and fun narration of this earnest mix of murder and manners. VERDICT Of interest to fans of the author, steampunk, or paranormal fiction. [The Little, Brown hc was a New York Times best seller.--Ed.]--Denise A. Garofalo, Mount Saint Mary Coll. Lib., Newburgh, NY

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