Goodman's historical fantasy, rife with dark magic, ancestral secrets, and forbidden love, is a treat for lovers of the gothic. Avaline Hall is a chime child, able to hear phantom warning bells when danger is near. At 16, she hears them when addressed by a sinister man. Soon after, her mother commits suicide. Again she hears the bells when the man appears at the garment factory where she is a seamstress, and it burns to the ground. Rescued by a mysterious winged boy, she spends a brief but traumatic time in an insane asylum before her estranged grandmother sends her to Blythewood, the boarding school her mother attended. And that's just the first 70 pages! There, the spellbinding story truly begins, as Ava investigates her mother's past, is inducted into the demon-battling Order of the Bells, and falls for the winged boy despite warnings that evil lies at the heart of all faerie creatures. Occasional slow spots aside, readers should be charmed and thrilled by this darkly romantic, fantastical tale.

Avaline Hall enters Blythewood Academy after being saved from a fire by a mysterious boy. Blythewood turns out to be more than just a boarding school--students are handpicked and trained in archery, magic, and bell-ringing in hopes of fighting the darkness of Faerie. Once the lengthy story gets going, Goodman's eccentric cast of characters will hook readers.

Readers looking to lose themselves in a beautifully told fantasy, ripe with magic, forbidden love and unspeakably dark forces, will find a happy home at Blythewood, a boarding school for girls. Having lost her mother and been forced to seek employment as a seamstress in order to survive, Avaline Hall never dreamed that she would one day attend her mother's beloved alma mater. But when a mysterious fire erupts at the factory and nearly claims Avaline's life, everything changes. Suddenly, Ava finds herself face to face with her estranged grandmother and the opportunity to attend the school of her dreams. Though the storyline meanders a bit, what follows is a series of discoveries about Blythewood, Ava's mother and her own strange powers that will hook readers and keep them reading despite a few slow spots. The novel is at its best when the story turns to the topic of forbidden love and sparks fly between Ava and the mysterious dark-eyed, winged boy who rescues her on more than one occasion. While intent on discovering his identity, Ava is equally determined to learn why her mother was expelled from Blythewood and to uncover the truth behind her own paternity. It's a long and winding road that leads Ava toward the answers to her questions, and readers are likely to agree that it's a journey well worth taking. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

In this atmospheric period piece set in 1911-12, a teenage factory girl is sent to her mother's alma mater, an elite girls' school located in upstate New York. There, Avaline Hall discovers that the girls of Blythewood Academy are secretly trained to work magic in order to fight off the dangers of Faerie, including winged Darklings and treacherous lampsprites. As Avaline unravels the mysteries of Blythewood, her own unrealized potential, and her deceased mother's tragic past, she grasps a larger picture, one in which the Fae may not be all evil. Goodman (Arcadia Falls) delivers a beautifully evocative tale perfect for fans of Libba Bray and Tiffany Trent. First in a trilogy, Goodman's story is intriguing, romantic, eerie, and adventurous, with the narrative wrapped around fairy tales and historical events, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Some of the supernatural framework may be familiar, but Goodman's integration of social causes and philosophy of the era-notably workers' and women's rights, as well as the roles of superstition, science, and reason-lead to a multifaceted and mature fantasy. Ages 12-up. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (Oct.)

Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Avaline Hall, alone in the world and not confident in her own sanity, is working at New York City's Triangle Waist factory to keep from starving. A devastating fire with links to her mother's mystery-shrouded death sets Ava on a path toward a life she never could have imagined. After a harrowing stay in Bellevue, where she is held captive, she is rescued by her estranged grandmother and sent to Blythewood, a boarding school full of secrets, magic, and danger. There she grapples to make sense of her mother's past and her own future. What are the bells only she can hear? Should she follow her heart and believe that a Darkling could be her friend, or listen to the Order who teach her that all faeries are evil? Who is she to believe as she comes into her own powers and uncovers pieces of the truth? The class struggles in this story set in the early 1900s are vividly depicted side by side with battles of magic and Faerie. Heavy in atmosphere with just enough romance, this novel is sure to find an appreciable following. Character development is strong as readers follow Ava in her search for answers to mysteries both external and internal. Fans will just have to hope that the rather abrupt ending means that a sequel is in the works. Genevieve Feldman, San Francisco Public Library