The Inventors Secret

Original author: Andrea Cremer
“The Inventor's Secret”

AUTHOR WEBSITE

 

Published on April 22, 2014 by Philomel
ISBN 0399159622

SYNOPSIS:
Living in an alternate nineteenth-century North America where the Revolutionary War never took place and the British Empire has expanded into a global juggernaut propelled by marvelous and horrible machinery, sixteen-year-old Charlotte and her fellow refugees have scraped out an existence on the edge of Britain’s industrial empire. 

Though they live by the skin of their teeth they have their health (at least when they can find enough food and avoid the Imperial Labor Gatherers) and each other. When a new exile with no memory of his escape from the coastal cities or even his own name seeks shelter in their camp he brings new dangers with him and secrets about the terrible future that awaits all those who have struggled has to live free of the bonds of the empire’s Machineworks.

WHY SHOULD YOU CHECK IT OUT?
From the author that brought us the Nightshade series, Andrea Cremer now guides us through the steampunk world of tomboy Charlotte. With her brother and fellow underage exiles, they live in the wilderness outside the floating island city of New York. Man-eating rats, teen resistance fights, giant robots, and a boy without a past and secret infiltration missions will have fans of the alternate history genre chomping at the bit.

The cover seems to feature the insectoid airship Dragonfly, which Charlotte, Jack, Grave, and the rest take to New York. We hear that the Dragonfly was meant as a movie prop, which suggests an added element of Hollywood glitz and glam!

EARLY REVIEWS SAY…
[A]n entertaining romp in a richly imaginative setting.  (Kirkus Review)

Snappy dialogue and proficient world-building… (School Library Journal)

NECESSARY DETAILS
YA Steampunk
Hardcover & ebook, 368 pages