Rebel Mechanics: All Is Fair in Love and Revolution

Gr 7 Up—Plucky ingénue Verity Newton, the half-magical child of a strict academic father, leaves her home in search of governess work in 18th-century New York. On her first day in the city she falls in with the Rebel Mechanics, a group of colonists who are determined to develop nonmagical means to break the hold of the British magistrates on the colonies. But that same day, she is hired by one of the most prestigious families of the magical British aristocracy. Verity finds herself torn between these two worlds. While she attempts to come to terms with her own half-magic nature (something she must hide from everyone), she also finds herself attracted to two young men from opposing sides of the conflict. Verity's calm and clear-headed thinking, despite the nonstop action and drama, is articulated perfectly by Liz Pearce, whose accents and children's voices are also spot-on. The moral dilemmas in this story may not be deeply investigated, but it is not an entirely superficial romp.