Starred Review ALA Booklist (Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2019)

Starred Review Life in Coal Top has been bleak since the Dust came and smudged out the stars and moon. This murky sky is all Mallie Ramble has ever known, but she's heard stories of a magical time when the mountain people wove starlight rather than slaving in mines and cleaning the valley folks' homes. Her family receives a shock when imposing Guardians barge into their home one night, searching for Mallie's little brother, Denver. The Rambles are granted a brief reprieve to come up with the formidable sum of 5,000 feathersworth, or else Denver will be taken to work in the mines. Serendipity arrives in the form of a crumpled invitation that Mallie finds, seeking intrepid boys for dangerous adventures d "riches untold." Tucking her hair beneath a hat, Mallie goes to the meeting, determined to save her brother and prove she's as brave and capable as any boy. A series of secret missions await the recruits, involving monsters, flying horses, gold dust, and unsettling truths. Strong themes of friendship and loyalty drive Lloyd's (A Snicker of Magic, 2014) story, which soars under Mallie's heroic lead. Her fiery and bighearted nature pierce the Dust and deceit covering Coal Top, and her physical disability never holds her back. Rather, she bravely proves that questions have power and one's story can be reshaped.

Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

Mallie works as a maid to pay off her family's debt to the Guardians so they won't take her younger brother into the mines. When the Guardians start recruiting for a well-paid special mission involving flying horses, Mallie signs up. Lloyd presents a bleak portrait of a fantasy-world mining community facing similar challenges to the ones in our own real world, but Mallie's engaging story is essentially one of daring journeys and heroic adventure.

Kirkus Reviews

A girl with a missing arm must question everything she knows to save her brother.The poverty-stricken citizens of Coal Top, high atop Forgotten Mountain, must "live the stories [they're] given." Once upon a time, Weavers wove wonderful dreams from starlight—until clouds of mood-darkening Dust blotted the stars. Now, by order of the ruling, all-male Guardians, boys must labor in the mines Down Below, and girls become maids for rich valley families. But 12-year-old Mallie Ramble, a self-described "fire-popper in a glass jar" with an orange prosthetic arm (a "universal color" that matches no one's actual skin tone), vows to save her sweet-as-pie little brother from laboring Down Below to pay the Rambles' debts. With remarkable luck, Mallie joins a group of "brave and wiry young fellers" invited to risk their lives on flying horses for chances at "riches untold." Her realistic self-consciousness must become self-confidence, however, when she discovers a nefarious plot. Despite occasionally lyrical turns of phrase, Lloyd ultimately leaves little for readers to imagine. Heroes are as distinct from villains as starlight is from Dust; the simplistic contrast of pure good and pure evil turns the ending trite and cloyingly sweet. Though Mallie says she's "met all kinds of people, who look all kinds of different ways," racial distinctions are largely unspoken; a gender-nonconforming secondary character with two different-colored eyes is 3 feet tall.The themes of facing fears and questioning authority are laudable, but even a feisty disabled narrator on a flying horse can't quite soar over their heavy-handed execution. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

A 12-year-old struggles as her family-s sole breadwinner until a dangerous opportunity offers financial freedom. Mallie Ramble manages her work as a maid in the valley just fine, though her employer condescends to her about her artificial arm, an orange -Popsnap- in -a universal color that fits everybody.- Above the valley, Mallie-s dust-covered home on Coal Top is ruled by malevolent authorities who threaten to force Mallie-s beloved seven-year-old brother into the mines. When a flyer calls for -fellers- (-orphans preferred-) -unafraid to ride and race and fly in the fear of certain death,- Mallie bravely volunteers to fly Starbirds-airborne horses-and collect gold dust from distant mountaintops. The bond between Mallie and her Starbird, Leo, proves strong as an evil plot comes to light, as does her chemistry with her best friend Adam and the horse trainer Iggy. Though characterization can feel flimsy, Lloyd (The Key to Extraordinary) deftly sketches oppressive social and economic circumstances and firmly establishes Mallie-s bravery. Ages 8-12. (Mar.)