Crewel

August 27, 2012
Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewis can â¨manipulate realityâweaving it like threads in a tapestryâa remarkable gift that only Spinsters possess. When Adelice's ability is discovered by the all-powerful Guild, she is torn from her family and thrust into a pampered but tightly controlled new life. Adelice and her fellow entry-level Spinsters learn how to keep the land of Arras running smoothly by regulating things like weather and births and also by "ripping" threads: instantly removing those who might pose a threat. As Adelice learns more about the questionable intentions of the Guild's leaders, she relies on two attractive, attentive guards to help decide both her fate and that of her world. Captivating and intense, Albin's intricate debut has the right balance of mystery, romance, and drama to keep readers' attention; Adelice's media- and appearance-focused society is reminiscent of the Capital in The Hunger Games, though this story's violence is more cerebral and remote. The reality-weaving can get murky, but it's easily forgiven as the plot races along to an unexpected conclusion, setting up the next book in this planned series. Ages 12âup. Agent: Mollie Glick, Foundry Literary + Media.

September 1, 2012
Too many slubs in the fabric of this dystopian romance land it in the "irregular" bin. In Arras, men control everything except reality, which is continually woven and re-woven by Spinsters, all women. They labor at the behest of the patriarchal Guild to maintain a post-apocalyptic utopia. Despite being rigorously coached by her parents to fail her aptitude test, 16-year-old Adelice shows her incredible talent at weaving and is wrested violently from her home to labor in the Coventry for the rest of her life. There, she draws the attention of two handsome young men with electric-blue (or cobalt blue, or sometimes just bright blue) eyes, the oily and evil power-hungry ambassador of the Guild, various catty Spinsters and the Creweler, the most powerful Spinster of them all, who extracts the material that forms the reality of Arras from the ruined Earth. Adelice narrates in the genre's now-de rigueur present tense, whipsawing readers through her guilt, grief, fear, revulsion and lust as she learns the power structures of the Coventry and plots to escape. A genuinely cool premise is undermined by inconsistent worldbuilding, fuzzy physics, pedestrian language, characters who never move beyond stereotype and subplots that go nowhere (including a well-meaning but awkwardly grafted-in gay rights thread). These last may reemerge in the sequel that will follow one of the slowest cliffhangers in recent memory. It's clear that Adelice cares deeply about her fate; it's debatable whether readers will. (Dystopian romance. 12-16)

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November 1, 2012

Gr 7-9-Adelice has the gift: a tremendous talent to see and weave the threads that hold the world of Arras together. And so her parents train her...to be clumsy and awkward, hiding her talent, so she will not be among the chosen, taken away to live forever unmarried, a Spinster. Adelice quickly experiences the title's play on words, for the Guild oversees an often cruel world, where men rule, girls are expected to honor purity standards, and Manipulation Services snips out and reweaves deviant "threads" to maintain order. Renewal patches maintain youth for the rich, and weather, farm crops, and population are all controlled by the Spinsters, who weave and tear out as assigned. Arras is an interesting world, where every part of life can be manipulated upon a loom. Those with the gift to see the threads are required to clean, strengthen, patch, or rip out, directly affecting human life. The book sometimes reads like a Hunger Games wanna-be, with food rationing, a sweet younger sister, transport to a special enclave surrounded by eccentric, hypercontrolling adults, and aestheticians who groom an average girl into a beauty. Spinsters are served by male valets, and Adelice finds herself in a romantic triangle. When she realizes the enormity of her talent, as well as the limits to her life if she remains a Spinster in Arras, she weaves her own creation into the tapestry. Readers will have to wait for the next installment to see how that works out. Consider for purchase in libraries where dystopian romance is popular.-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2012
Grades 7-10 Debut author Albin spins an intriguing dystopian world that mirrors ours: resources are limited, men have most of the power, and women do the work that holds the world together. Arras is a fragile planet created after Earth failed, woven from threads of time and matter and run by an oligarchy called the Guild. Lucky women work as Spinsters, repairing fragile threads, cleaning threads damaged by aberrant behavior and thought, and monitoring the weave for trouble or revolution. Sixteen-year-old Adelice's skill surpasses that of Spinster, and she is singled out to become the powerful new Creweler. The story opens with a dramatic scene of Adelice's failed escape from service, but uneven pacing follows. She is sometimes puzzlingly passive about the events unfolding around her: death, punishment, a loyal friend's suicide, budding romance, and threats from Cormac, a Guild leader. Still, Adelice has a delightfully snarky mouth, and she takes a leap at the end of the book that will inspire readers to follow her into the next installment. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A full-force multimedia marketing campaign could help this title become the next big dystopian blockbuster.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)