Narrator Elise Arsenault establishes a passionate voice for 12-year-old Marya Lupa, who longs to find purpose in Illyria, a world in which girls and women have little value. As boys come of age, those with magic become sorcerers who must defend their people from a magical force called the Dread. Soon after Marya’s brother is passed over as a future sorcerer, she is required to attend Dragonmir Academy, a boarding school for troubled girls. Arsenault succeeds in capturing the drama as Marya starts to uncover hidden truths and question her world and the rules that have held her and other women back for so long. Listeners and fantasy fans alike will be intrigued by this fantastical tale. M.D. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

10/25/2021

Though the patriarchal Kingdom of Illyria is known for its tapestries, the elegant visuals center men’s experiences to the exclusion of women’s: “Behind every great tapestry was a woman who wove it, just as behind every great sorcerer was a wife to tend to his domestic affairs.” Likewise, pale-skinned Marya Lupu, 12, is expected to tend to her family’s household, while her brother, 13-year-old Luka, receives the privilege and tutelage apparently befitting a prospective sorcerer. With the mysterious Dread increasingly devouring entire towns, the Council for the Magical protection of Illyria scours the countryside for magical talent that can help keep the Dread at bay—and should Luka become sorcerer, the change would confer status on the entire family. But after an incident occurs during Luka’s test, Marya is summoned to Dragomir Academy, a faraway school that prepares “troubled” young women for a model future on sorcerers’ estates while requiring them to forsake their pasts. Via a winningly curious protagonist who has a keen interest in the truth, Ursu (The Lost Girl) weaves a layered tapestry—filled with close-knit relationships and a well-explained, intriguing world—that questions authority, misogyny, and whom a story serves. Ages 8–12. (Oct.)

"Through Ursu’s hallmark thoughtful and inspiring writing, readers delve into a story that seamlessly combines intriguing worldbuilding that is full of magic with a feminist perspective that interrogates the systemic oppression at society’s core. Marya’s developing relationships with her classmates as well as with her brother form the beating heart of the book. But it’s Marya’s inner conflict as she asks the question, “Who does the story serve?” and considers what she has always been told about herself that elevates this tale into unmissable territory. A wonderful and inspiring feminist fantasy." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Via a winningly curious protagonist who has a keen interest in the truth, Ursu weaves a layered tapestry—filled with close-knit relationships and a well-explained, intriguing world—that questions authority, misogyny, and whom a story serves — Publishers Weekly

"An accessible, timely school story with a rather Transylvanian flavor to its fantasy setting. Ursu explores girls’ conditioning in timidity and shame in a male-dominated world and, ultimately, envisions a hopeful, female-determined future of magical ability." — Horn Book Magazine

"Readers present for the tale’s magical trappings and interwoven intrigue won’t be disappointed, and they’ll welcome Marya’s determination to assert herself as powerful in her own right." — Booklist

"The remarkable Anne Ursu here crafts a wondrous fantasy set in a colorfully described medieval world of sorcery and magic, yet conveying a very contemporary-feeling and empowering feminist message. It's a thrilling coming-of-age novel featuring a feisty heroine, an ornery goat, an insufferable headmaster and intricate tapestries with coded messages." — Buffalo News

“A suspenseful tale woven with secrets and magic, with a gasp-worthy twist at the end, The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy is everything I love about fantasy. Spell-binding.” — Christina Soontornvat, Newbery Honor-winning author of A Wish in the Dark

“Anne Ursu practices her own brand of sorcery—the ability to craft wondrous, magical stories that are unlike anything you’ve ever read. Another extraordinary tale from a remarkably talented author.” — Erin Entrada Kelly, Newbery Medal-winning author of Hello, Universe

"A thoughtful and incisive story of lies told to control people and the complicated girls who ask questions, push back, and keep fighting." — Tui Sutherland, New York Times-bestselling author of the Wings of Fire series

“It’s no secret that Anne Ursu is a gifted storyteller.  The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy is intricately plotted and compulsively readable, with characters who will stay with you long after you stop reading. I could not put it down.” — Aisha Saeed, New York Times bestselling author of Amal Unbound

"The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy manages the particular magic of being both a true fantasy novel and a clear-eyed reflection of the here-and-now. Bighearted, generous, and outstandingly original, this is a story only Anne Ursu could write." — Elana K. Arnold, award-winning author of The House That Wasn't There

"The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy manages the particular magic of being both a true fantasy novel and a clear-eyed reflection of the here-and-now. Bighearted, generous, and outstandingly original, this is a story only Anne Ursu could write."

It’s no secret that Anne Ursu is a gifted storyteller.  The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy is intricately plotted and compulsively readable, with characters who will stay with you long after you stop reading. I could not put it down.

"A thoughtful and incisive story of lies told to control people and the complicated girls who ask questions, push back, and keep fighting."

"Readers present for the tale’s magical trappings and interwoven intrigue won’t be disappointed, and they’ll welcome Marya’s determination to assert herself as powerful in her own right."

"The remarkable Anne Ursu here crafts a wondrous fantasy set in a colorfully described medieval world of sorcery and magic, yet conveying a very contemporary-feeling and empowering feminist message. It's a thrilling coming-of-age novel featuring a feisty heroine, an ornery goat, an insufferable headmaster and intricate tapestries with coded messages."

Anne Ursu practices her own brand of sorcery—the ability to craft wondrous, magical stories that are unlike anything you’ve ever read. Another extraordinary tale from a remarkably talented author.

"An accessible, timely school story with a rather Transylvanian flavor to its fantasy setting. Ursu explores girls’ conditioning in timidity and shame in a male-dominated world and, ultimately, envisions a hopeful, female-determined future of magical ability."

A suspenseful tale woven with secrets and magic, with a gasp-worthy twist at the end, The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy is everything I love about fantasy. Spell-binding.

"Readers present for the tale’s magical trappings and interwoven intrigue won’t be disappointed, and they’ll welcome Marya’s determination to assert herself as powerful in her own right."

Narrator Elise Arsenault establishes a passionate voice for 12-year-old Marya Lupa, who longs to find purpose in Illyria, a world in which girls and women have little value. As boys come of age, those with magic become sorcerers who must defend their people from a magical force called the Dread. Soon after Marya’s brother is passed over as a future sorcerer, she is required to attend Dragonmir Academy, a boarding school for troubled girls. Arsenault succeeds in capturing the drama as Marya starts to uncover hidden truths and question her world and the rules that have held her and other women back for so long. Listeners and fantasy fans alike will be intrigued by this fantastical tale. M.D. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

★ 2021-07-27
In the kingdom of Illyria, the lives of young girls are of little consequence.

Twelve-year-old Marya Lupu has always been told there is no place for her in the world, whereas her older brother, Luka, has been primed all his life to become one of the rare, respected sorcerers who protect the realm against the mysterious Dread and the wicked witches of Kel. A mistake lands Marya at the Dragomir Academy, an isolated boarding school for troubled girls, where she and her classmates are expected to reform themselves and leave the past behind. But the more time passes, the more the girls spot the holes in the fabric of the stories they are told. Through Ursu’s hallmark thoughtful and inspiring writing, readers delve into a story that seamlessly combines intriguing worldbuilding that is full of magic with a feminist perspective that interrogates the systemic oppression at society’s core. Marya’s developing relationships with her classmates as well as with her brother form the beating heart of the book. But it’s Marya’s inner conflict as she asks the question, “Who does the story serve?” and considers what she has always been told about herself that elevates this tale into unmissable territory, with its remarkably raw and honest look at the emotional and psychological consequences of living under patriarchal ideology. Marya is pale skinned in a world with characters of varying skin tones.

A wonderful and inspiring feminist fantasy. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)