December 1, 2014
Gr 6 Up-Sophronia Temminick and her friends once again face adventure and mystery in Carriger's Victorian steampunk, fantasy mash-up. Sophronia is going home for a ball in honor of her brother's wedding. Her biggest concern should be practicing her etiquette and the use of her fan as a weapon. Instead, she's worried about her friend Sidheagh, whose family of werewolves are facing exile or perhaps worse. Sidheagh is determined to return home to help her family and Sophronia is just as determined to help her. Soon she and her friends, including Dimity, Soap, and Lord Felix Mersey, are on their way via hot air balloon and train. Along the way they discover a Pickleman plot and the protagonist finds herself torn between friendship and possible love. Carriger's trademark wit and humor are ever-present, and this outing in the "Finishing School" series (Little, Brown) finishes on a more emotional note as the heroine discovers where her heart lies.-Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 1, 2015
In this steampunk espionage-school series' third thrilling installment, Sophronia's friend Sidheag receives bad news about her werewolf pack in Scotland and sneaks away from the Finishing Academy's dirigible to head home. Of course Sophronia and Dimity follow, with the ready excuse of a must-attend masquerade ball. Reunited with Sidheag, annoyingly charming Lord Felix, and just-plain-charming "sootie" Soap, Sophronia is soon consulting with the queen's werewolf delegate and commandeering a train to take Sidheag to her pack. And soon after that, Sophronia and her friends find themselves not only mixed up in the werewolves' troubles but also attempting to foil a plot to hijack England's ubiquitous mechanical servants. The tangled web of supernatural beings (along with their associated societies), human detractors, and political machinations can be hard to follow. But the well-wrought steampunk/supernatural setting provides a vibrant backdrop to Sophronia's fast-paced adventures and witty banter, and her difficult dilemmas regarding possible career paths and matters of the heart add emotional depth. katie bircher
(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)