Muse

November 6, 2020

GR 7 Up-It's 1893 and Claire's father is the weapons inventor set to be featured at the World's Fair in St. Cloud-he's more than a little unstable and the weapon doesn't work. Convinced Claire has the magic to fix it, he abuses her when she fails. Claire plans her escape, but when the weapon succeeds-with her intervention-she's in the crosshairs of young, unpopular governor Remy Duchamp. He takes her hostage to be the muse of the World's Fair, and possibly use her powers for himself. With an epigraph, preamble, and prologue, this book should feel like a slow start-more history lesson than novel-but juxtaposing a historical America where George Washington turned his back on democracy to become king against today's political theater sets the story alight with tension. Unfortunately, the complete lack of characters of color distracts from the story. With no mention of slavery (the First American Kingdom never fought a Civil War), one unnamed character of color, and white villains with an anti-immigration plotline, readers will be disheartened by Claire, who refuses to get involved in politics that don't directly affect her. Overbearing men, white supremacists, and white feminists are cast as the villains of the story; ultimately Claire is put in the position to be a white savior to the immigrants who have come to St. Cloud. VERDICT Problematic elements overshadow what could have been a well-crafted plot and interesting worldbuilding, making this an additional purchase for libraries in need of historical series.-Emmy Neal, Lake Forest Lib., IL

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2020
Political intrigue in an alternate America. Seventeen-year-old Claire Emerson has the magic touch, able to bless people via skin-to-skin contact. Such power makes her a commodity, and Claire believes her only escape from her crazed father's demands will be through marriage. The 1893 World's Fair is finally happening, and Claire intends to seek refuge with her long-absent brother once her father's newest invention debuts. Instead, she becomes a pawn in the political scrabble among young Gov. Remy Duchamp, his power-hungry general, and malcontents from the neighboring province of Livingston-Monroe. Female independence is not a possibility in this 19th-century Great American Kingdom, where the Washingtons are a monarchical dynasty, the U.S. is divided into provinces ruled by governors, and suffrage is suppressed. This is also an America where immigration is limited--the villains are blatantly xenophobic--but slavery, abolition, and Indigenous populations are not mentioned, their omission a serious flaw in an otherwise richly detailed setting and timeline. For a novel about science, magic, and politics, none of the rules are adequately explained, leaving the readers to learn alongside Claire as she struggles to understand her powers, the political game, and various steampunk gadgets. Cavallaro excels at intrigue, capers, and feminist concerns, but this book needs more substantial worldbuilding before joining the crowd of alternate history tales. Most characters are White. Like a lightbulb: incandescent and dazzling but artificial. (map, author's note) (Fantasy. 14-18)

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January 4, 2021
In this fresh duology starter from Cavallaro (the Charlotte Holmes series), the novel’s heroine shares center stage with a glittering alternate version of the U.S. in the 19th-century. Ruled by a monarchial line of kings descended from George Washington, the First American Kingdom comprises a handful of sometimes-warring provinces, each ruled by its own hereditary governor. In Monticello-by-the-Lake, quietly rebellious Claire Emerson, 17, is getting ready to flee her violent inventor father by running away to an arranged marriage. Mad and ambitious, her father believes that Claire’s blessing and touch have the power to ensure the success of a giant weapon he will debut at the 1893 World’s Fair. A chaotic turn of events lands Claire in the mansion of the province’s young governor, Remy Duchamp, who also believes in Claire’s ability to bolster his luck. Meanwhile, the nearby province of Livingston-Monroe appears to be growing more aggressive, Remy’s principal advisor hatches his own schemes, and the members of the Daughters of the American Crown work behind the scenes to gain rights for women. While the freewheeling narrative whirls readers along, Claire slowly gains agency, using her wits rather than her supposed powers to take charge of her fate. Peopled with real-world historical characters alongside the fictional ones, Cavallaro’s vision of U.S. history presents thought-provoking parallels to past and present realities. Ages 14–up. Agent: Lana Popovic, Chalberg & Sussman.