Publishers Weekly
★ 08/15/2022
Ireland (Dread Nation) delivers a knockout punch in this fantastical steampunk take on the Great Depression, in which the U.S. rebuilds after a magical blight throws the country into disarray. In 1937, Black 17-year-old Laura Ann Langston, a powerful queer mage hailing from small-town Shrinesville, Pa., goes to New York City seeking a grand future beyond her family’s humble farm. Unable to procure a job and low on funds, she seeks help from the Colored Auxiliary branch of the Bureau of the Arcane’s Conservation Corps—a group of Black mages responsible for maintaining the magical machines that power the U.S. economy. Mages sent to research and manage the blight that still threatens the country’s machinery are disappearing, and the Skylark, the enigmatic head of the Floramancy Division, grudgingly takes Laura on as her apprentice. But Laura and the Skylark fear for their lives and the country’s future when their investigation unveils dangerous archaic magic thought long gone. Ireland mingles an in-depth understanding of human nature with a wildly ambitious reimagining of the Depression era, balancing matters of race, gender, and sexuality in this thoroughly unique perspective of historical magical fantasy. B&W photographs depicting real-life U.S. history, featured throughout, enrich the narrative. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
"The bold narrative eerily echoes many of the issues that presently plague the country, describing the destructive nature of capitalism and the impact its oppression wreaks on a nation. Insightful, admirable, and well executed.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Delivers a knockout punch. Ireland mingles an in-depth understanding of human nature with a wildly ambitious reimagining of the Depression era, balancing matters of race, gender, and sexuality in this thoroughly unique perspective of historical magical fantasy.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Tackles important social issues while providing an exciting and fast-paced adventure that’s hard to put down.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
"Complex world-building rooted in dark events of American history is leavened by humor and a pace that rarely lags. The sheer breadth of imagination on display is extraordinary." — Booklist (starred review)
“Ireland has confidently merged the historical and the mystical into a fast-paced, complex, and entertaining read.” — The Horn Book
"Justina Ireland sets her dazzling new novel, with its blistering critique of the nation's racist history, in 1936-37 during the "Great Rust"—a steampunk version of the Great Depression. Thrilling." — Buffalo News
School Library Journal
★ 10/01/2022
Gr 8 Up—Laura Ann Langstan is a queer Black girl growing up in an alternate 1930s America. In this world, the mystical arts can be practiced, but only with a license, and Laura seeks hers by joining the Bureau of the Arcane's Conservation Corps in New York as an apprentice to a mysterious woman named Skylark. As the two go on a mission into the oldest Blight in America to fix the corruption to the area, they discover there is more to Laura than anyone, including Laura herself, previously thought. Ireland seamlessly weaves historical events with the mystical world she created, making the fantasy of this book feel very real and fleshed out. This work puts a much-needed perspective into YA historical fiction and does not hold back when examining America's dark past of racism and exploitation. The cast of characters is almost entirely Black and has LGBTQIA+ representation in Laura as well as Malik, a boy in the Conservation Corps. This book is exciting, with a litany of in-depth characters that readers will love. VERDICT This novel tackles important social issues while providing an exciting and fast-paced adventure that's hard to put down. Highly recommended for any YA collection.—Carleigh Obrochta
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2022-07-13
A queer Black mage with a simple dream learns she is destined for far greater adventures.
Laura Ann Langston just wants to be an influential baker. However, 1937 America cares little about her sweet ambitions or that she traveled from a country town in Pennsylvania to New York City to make it happen. Several months in, Laura is flat broke with nowhere to call home, leading her to join the Bureau of the Arcane’s Conservation Corps. Laura is recruited by the formidable agent Skylark, head of the Colored Auxiliary’s regional Floramancy Division. After other areas’ teams go missing, Laura and Skylark set out on an ominous mission to the Ohio Deep Blight, a zone experiencing unnatural phenomena that have disastrous effects on people and animals. There, they use their capacity to control the Dynamism, an energy field that mages pull from. It’s there that Laura also uncovers a conspiracy and gains insight into the depths of her power. Readers are thrust into complex worldbuilding with familiar parallels to our world. Ireland makes advanced concepts accessible, and old photos, articles, and investigative reports bolster her uncanny ability to weave painful, real history into this new world. The bold narrative, told through Laura’s first-person and Skylark’s third-person perspectives, culminates in a captivating ending that eerily echoes many of the issues that presently plague the country, describing the destructive nature of capitalism and the impact its oppression wreaks on a nation.
Insightful, admirable, and well executed. (author's note, photo credits) (Historical fantasy. 14-18)
