The Mark of the Dragonfly

Thirteen-year-old Piper is an orphan who struggles to survive by scavenging, repairing, and reselling artifacts from other worlds. Narrator Kim Mai Guest does an excellent job evoking Piper's tenacity--not only to survive but also to one day get herself out of the lowly scraptown where she lives and make something of her life. Opportunity comes when Piper rescues a mysterious girl, Anna, and sets out to return her to the capital of the neighboring Dragonfly Territories. The breathy, somewhat ethereal tone Guest uses to portray Anna perfectly matches the scatterbrained, timid girl. Guest pulls listeners into the treacherous adventure as the girls are pursued by a dangerous man bent on seizing them. A suspenseful narration and a vaguely steampunk-inspired world make this a fun listen. J.M. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Starred review from March 3, 2014
Merging elements of dystopia, steampunk, and fantasy, this magnetic middle-grade debut imagines an alien world where 13-year-old Piper survives by working as a scrapper, salvaging artifacts left behind by meteor storms. Her life transforms when she rescues a mysterious girl in the aftermath of one such storm: Anna is brilliant yet disoriented, and she sports a tattoo signifying that she is held under the protection of the king of the Dragonfly territories. Piper knows that a reward awaits her if she returns Anna safely to her home. Yet passage on board the 401, a mile-long armored train, is beyond their grasp, and Anna is also being pursued by a ruthless, ominous man. With a setting drawn from an industrial revolution still in birthing pains, Johnson's narrative is marked by colloquial language and blends societal decay with a sense of burgeoning technological innovation. Piper and her new ally, the enigmatic Gee, exhibit maturity and resourcefulness at every turn in a page-turner that defies easy categorization and ought to have broad appeal. Ages 10âup. Agent: Sara Megibow, Nelson Literary Agency.