Monday, May 18, 2015

A School for Unusual Girls by Kathleen Baldwin - OPTIONAL

Baldwin, Kathleen A School for Unusual Girls, 272 p. TOR Teen, 2015.  $18.  Mature Content: G; Language: G; Violence: PG. 

Georgiana Fitzwilliam is devastated when her parents take her to a boarding/reform school where she is to be supposedly re-educated into a docile, obedient daughter by very strict, slightly inhumane methods.  The school, its mistress, Miss Stranje, and the other girls are certainly unfathomable for Georgie, especially when she hears secrets being discussed that involve plots against Napoleon and Georgie’s own attempts to create a truly invisible ink.  Georgie will need to trust her talents, trust her new schoolmates, and fight hard to save Sebastian, a man she is just beginning to love, and to perhaps save the world. 

The narrative bogs down a little for me when the girls’ opponent, also a girl, is able to score so many easy victories over them while they are in France.  I also didn’t like that they kept Georgie in the dark for so long about the true purpose of the school.  I get that they had been burned once before, but Georgie didn’t volunteer herself to attend like the other girl did.  But it is certainly full of danger and intrigues that will keep student readers engaged if they like historical settings.

MS, HS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher 

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