ESCAPE TO WITCH CITY

In this alternate historical London, anyone with more than 15% witch blood is banished; royals are not exempt.

Queen Alexandria, with her sister Isolde by her side, ascended the throne after crushing a witch uprising. Since then, all 13-year-olds have been tested for witch blood. When Prince Edgar and Isolde’s daughter, Emma, are tested, they fail. They, along with two others, Maddie and Eliza, are put on the Witch Express, a train supposedly heading to Scotland. But Eliza informs them that, actually, nooses await them. With assistance from a sympathizer, the foursome escape with instructions to find Witch City. But first, they must traverse the changeable In-Between as they are chased by the murderous queen, a witch hunter, and a monster. Survival depends on using their individual gifts: Maddie’s thought control, Eliza’s fire starting, Edgar’s bird communication, plus Emma’s alarming ability to hear others’ heartbeats—and even stop them. As they untangle the lies they’ve been fed, they uncover terrible secrets about the uprising and its aftermath. The brisk tale, colored with inventive details, is told with a focus on Emma’s perspective. Intrigue, betrayals, and threats of filicide heighten the drama, but it is the awesome possibilities awakened when one embraces one’s powers that lie at the heart of this story. Themes around rewriting history and the oppression of certain groups will invite the contemplation of parallels to the real world. Most characters default to White; Eliza has dark skin and curly hair.

Suspenseful and heartening.