The League of Seven

June 9, 2014
Archie Dent’s parents, who are researchers for the secretive Septemberist Society in a steampunk 1875 America, have just discovered that one of the monstrous immortal Mangleborn, imprisoned centuries earlier, is about to rise again. Legends say that seven heroes will emerge to defeat the monsters, so 12-year-old Archie isn’t worried—until a Mangleborn called the Swarm Queen takes control of his parents’ brains. To save them, Archie teams up with Hachi, a Seminole girl with excellent fighting skills and a dark past, and Fergus, a young inventor scarred by his experiments with electricity. The formation of the League requires a strong ensemble cast, and Gratz (Prisoner B-3087) delivers admirably in this first installment in a planned trilogy, even with only three of its members yet introduced. An enticing alternate history presents an America in which Native tribes have as much power and presence as Yankees, with politics of their own to navigate. Gratz has created an imaginative world with appeal far beyond its immediate middle-grade market. Art not seen by PW. Ages 10–14. Author’s agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

July 1, 2014
Gratz works an unusual twist into the familiar teens-saving-the-Earth-from-monsters trope: The protagonist is both archetypal hero and, at least potentially, nemesis.Said twist adds major complications as this opener brings together the first three of seven young team members, each specifically typecast, destined to battle the Mangleborn-huge, unkillable monsters that previous Leagues of Seven have tackled at regular intervals down the ages. In an alternate 1875, a giant statue of Hiawatha stands in the harbor of the United Nations' (rather than States') New Rome, and technology is based on clockworks rather than electricity. An attack on his librarian parents and the secret Septemberist Society to which they belong leads 12-year-old Archie, his wind-up sidekick, Mr. Rivets, and two capable new friends into a desperate scramble to keep the insectile Mangleborn Swarm Queen from escaping her subterranean prison in Florida. Archie's discovery that, like his doomed predecessors Heracles and Cu Chullainn, his special powers come with a dark side leaves him (not to mention his fellow League members) profoundly disturbed at the close. (Helquist's illustrations not seen at time of review.)Action, banter and steampunk-style tech aplenty-plus truly icky foes inspired, the author acknowledges, by the creations of H.P. Lovecraft-make this an appealingly fast-paced trilogy opener. (Fantasy/steampunk. 11-13)

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August 1, 2014

Gr 4-6-The Septemberist Society is a secret society that remembers the past and watches for signs that the Mangleborn might escape from underground prisons the Ancient League built for them. Septemberists exist because "people didn't want to know there were really monsters in the world" as they wait for a new League of Seven to be born to fight the ever-lurking evil in this steampunk world. Archie, born to Septemberist parents, is thrust into the middle of a massive Mangleborn uprising after his parents are attacked by tentacled, buglike manglespawn. Our reluctant hero now has his quest assignment: to save his parents, and in doing so, prevent the darkness that lives beneath the swamps of Florida from taking over the world. Every reluctant hero needs trusty sidekicks-Archie has Mr. Rivets, his Tik-Tok machine-man servant; Fergus, a boy working with Edison on "lektricity"; and Hachi, a First Nations girl who has dedicated her life to being a warrior. Together, they must battle Manglespawn monsters, armies of insect men, and Edison's assassinbot. And if they succeed? Well, as Archie would say, that would be so brass. This steampunk love-letter set in an alternative 1870s America, packs in quite a lot of action, if sometimes at the expense of character development. So many steampunk elements have been worked into book that readers may experience sensory overload. The first installment in a planned trilogy.-Meg Allison, The Moretown School, VT

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2014
Grades 4-7 This hybrid of steampunk and alternate American history features a hell-raising girl's school, Atlantis, and three highly likable leads in a yarn rip-roaring from start to finish. It's 1875, and Archie Dent is the son of Septembrists, members of a secret society who protect humanity from the Mangleborn. There is a cyclical nature to their work: the Septembrists subdue the Mangleborn and lock them beneath the earth, but the Mangleborn eventually rise again. When Archie's parents are brainwashed by a new Mangleborn threat, he sets out to recruit a League of Seven, the legendary combination of a Tinker, a Lawbringer, a Scientist, a Trickster, a Warrior, a Shadow, and a Hero. The first two are Fergus, a mechanic in a kilt, rescued from a maniacal Thomas Edison, and Hachi, a Native American girl who wants to assassinate Edison. Moments of humor and pathos enliven the history and fantasy. Though the main plot concerning Archie's parents is resolved, there is plenty to address and discover in a sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015
After Manglespawn (monsters that were imprisoned underground) infiltrate the Septemberist Society's headquarters and brainwash Archie's parents, Archie attempts to save them and learns secrets about his origins in the process. Set in an alternate-1875 America where Native Americans and "Yankees" live in peace and harmony but Thomas Edison and "lectricity" are frightening entities, this steampunk trilogy-opener promises action while it challenges readers to rethink history.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)