A Most Magical Girl,New

Product DescriptionFrom the author of Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy comes the story of a friendship between two girls set in Victorian England, with magical machines, wizards, witches, a mysterious underworld, and a race against time.Annabel Grey is primed for a proper life as a young lady in Victorian England. But when her mother suddenly disappears, shes put in the care of two eccentric aunts who thrust her into a decidedly unladylike life, full of potions and flying broomsticks and wizards who eat nothing but crackers. Magic, indeed! Who ever heard of such a thing?Before Annabel can assess the most ladylike way to respond to her current predicament, she is swept up in an urgent quest. Annabel is pitted against another young witch, Kitty, to rescue the sacred Moreover Wand from the dangerous underworld that exists beneath London. The two girls outsmart trolls, find passage through a wall of faerie bones, and narrowly escape a dragon, but it doesnt take long for Annabel to see that the most dangerous part of her journey is her decision to trust this wild, magical girl.Sparkling with Karen Foxlees enchanting writing, this is a bewitching tale of one important wand and two most magical girls.'[Foxlee's] heroines have grit and heart, and they are willing to get dirty. And they do. Foxlees nicely wry tone and moments of incongruous humor break up the tension, while Annabels race against time in a harrowing journey deep under London keeps the pages turning. Deliciously complex and convincingly detailed.'Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review'Kids who enjoyed Foxlees Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy and fans of Hardinges Cuckoo Song will find similar otherworldly appeal in this enthralling adventure.'The Bulletin, Starred review'Memorable for its vivid imagery and stylish, thoughtful prose.'Horn Book MagazineReviewDeliciously complex and convincingly detailed.Kirkus Reviews starred review'Kids who enjoyed Foxlees Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy (BCCB 2/13) and fans of Hardinges Cuckoo Song (BCCB 6/15) will find similar otherworldly appeal in this enthralling adventure.' Bulletin starred reviewAbout the AuthorKaren Foxlee is the author of The Anatomy of Wings, The Midnight Dress, and the middlegrade novel Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy, which has received five starred reviews. She lives in Brisbane, Australia, with her daughter.Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.1A young lady should find, in all manner of circumstances and predicaments, a way to be both cheerful and content.Miss Finchs Little Blue Book (1855)Annabel Grey arrived late in the afternoon in her best dress and her new red town cloak. She stepped down from the carriage and surveyed the street with her chin held high. She smiled. She smiled the way she had been taught to smile when things were terrible or even just a little bad. She smiled as though shed just seen something lovely. A beautiful painting, perhaps, or a butterfly.It was exactly the sort of street she had imagined, although she had never once been to this side of London. It was a mean street, the buildings leaning, holding each other up like a mouthful of rotten teeth. It was a stinking, wet place. There were cattle being herded across intersections, and stone buildings and churches and factories streaming black smoke, all crammed side by side. It was a damp and dark street, choked with wagons and carriages and filled with foul weather. A temperamental wind stamped up and down the road, slamming doors and stealing umbrellas and tugging at her bonnet ribbon.She concentrated very hard on not letting her smile falter.The costermongers were cowering under eaves, calling out, Hot cooked eels and Pickled whelks, above the sound of the wind. The shop signs read usurer and milliner and haberdasher. ship broker and grain broker and silver broker. falconer and feather purveyor and supplier of fine tartan. But before her was a shop with the wor