A Most Magical Girl

May 15, 2016
A young Victorian girl is called to duty in a battle between witchy good and evil.Except for odd, compelling visions seen in rainy-day puddles, Annabel's an unremarkable white, middle-class girl schooled in proper behavior. But when her mother unexpectedly sends her off to live with elderly aunts, Annabel arrives on the eve of a crisis in the heart of London. The aunts are witches, of course. London's aging witches and wizards, members of the Great & Benevolent Magical Society, must rely on Annabel to avert disaster. Mr. Angel is the inventor of a machine that extracts dark magic by feeding on sad things: mourning ribbons, unsent letters, loss and sorrow of all kinds. He plans to feed Annabel to it as the ultimate sad sacrifice, thereby harvesting enough dark magic to immerse the world in evil. Foxlee deftly wields the tropes of witchery: the importance of wands, the character and flight of broomsticks, and the selection of magical objects--for Annabel, a seeing stone. Her heroines--besides Annabel, there's Kitty, the dark-browed, green-eyed "wild girl" from the streets, and a young troll with aspirations--have grit and heart, and they are willing to get dirty. And they do. Foxlee's nicely wry tone and moments of incongruous humor break up the tension, while Annabel's race against time in a harrowing journey deep under London keeps the pages turning. McKay's three-dimensional art suffers in its matte, black-and-white rendition here, but it's still a pleasant complement.Deliciously complex and convincingly detailed. (Historical fantasy. 9-13)

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June 1, 2016

Gr 4-7-Thirteen-year-old Annabel Grey was raised to be a proper young lady. Her loftiest dreams involve her best friend, dresses, and a brand-new pair of green ice skates. Then, in the turn of a day, her mother goes abroad, leaving her with aunts she's never known. Annabel jarringly learns that the visions she's always seen in puddles were just an inkling of the magical world surrounding her, one from which her mother was estranged and to which she has now been returned. Seemingly minutes after she arrives at the magic shop owned by her aunts, the Vine sisters, a dark wizard named Mr. Angel arrives. He has constructed a dark magic machine and conjured shadowlings in a bid to take over all of London and dissolve good magic. Annabel's journey to Under London to retrieve the white wand in an effort to save everyone from Mr. Angel's nefarious plans ultimately becomes one of self-discovery in which she comes to terms with her new identity and embraces bravery, chance, and unexpected friendships. Many scenes are richly described, from dark, foggy, sinister London to an unwelcome delay in the troll dwellings of Under London. Yet ultimately some characters and elements feel underdeveloped. The brevity of the period before Annabel leaves her old life, as well as the abruptness with which the story wraps up after her quest ends, makes for a shallow backstory. Further, the tale centers on the battle between dark and light, in which light, or good, is often called "white" (the white wand; her pure white, unmapped skin) and dark, or evil, is often "black" (the black wand, black fog, black wave of destruction). Though this is of course an age-old trope, one wishes different, more inclusive naming conventions had been employed. VERDICT An additional purchase for libraries where Foxlee's Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy proved popular.-Jill Heritage Maza, Montclair Kimberley Academy, Montclair, NJ

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2016
Grades 3-6 Foxlee follows her well-received Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy (2014) with a new story of magic and adventure. Here almost-13-year-old Annabel Grey finds herself suddenly uprooted from her life as a proper Victorian lady and placed in the care of her two great-aunts, who run a magic shop. Almost immediately upon the girl's arrival, the evil wizard Mr. Angel visits the shop to announce that he plans to take over London using dark magic. This would be a lot for any girl to take in, but Annabel also learns that she has magical abilities, which she must use to save the city. With the help of a wild girl and an unruly broomstick, Annabel is thrown into a dangerous adventure beneath the city. Young readers will be enthralled by her quest, during which she encounters a secret river, trolls, and a dragon while uncovering her true self. Fast-paced, but at times repetitive, the imaginative narrative is a classic tale of good versus evil sure to be popular with fantasy-lovers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)