In early-20th-century Newfoundland, 13-year-old Dorthea dresses as a boy in order to act as a spy and in the process unravels a family mystery.Dor is thrilled by the prospect of impersonating an errand boy when her reporter friend Murph mentions needing an undercover source to help him investigate the doings of Guglielmo Marconi, a fictionalized version of the real-life inventor of the radio telegraph system. Dor feels more comfortable in boy's clothing, and she and her friend Clare, with whom she is in love, find they are more attracted to one another when Dor is dressed as a boy. However, Dor's mercurial mother often ridicules her for her unladylike ways, and though Dor struggles with her, she begins to understand more about her mother's tragic history after she disappears and is ultimately revealed to have been taken prisoner by the fair folk. Narrative strands abound in this steampunk-flavored fantasy that also incorporates more traditional fairy lore that results in an engaging, but at times unwieldy, whole. Yet, anchored by the sweet love story of Clare and Dor, the dreamily atmospheric descriptions of the historical setting, and the appealing characters-including an otherworldly Reverend and his talking crow, Oberon-there is plenty to spur readers on. All characters are White.A sprawling, lyrical historical fantasy. (Fantasy. 12-14)