The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents

A lonely tween finds her place among fellow misunderstood magicians in this empowering fantasy from Pau Preto (the House of the Dead duology). When yet another magical mishap gets 12-year-old Lavinia “Vin” Lucas expelled from her eighth boarding school in three years, the Worldwide Magecraft School Board remands her to The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents in rural New Jersey. Upon arriving, Vin expects to be an outcast, like always; instead, she finds a trio of loyal pals and starts learning to control her abilities thanks to headmistress Ava Hope’s kind, patient tutelage. Just as Vin begins to feel at home, however, someone tries to frame her for a series of increasingly dangerous and seemingly impossible accidents. Certain this is her last chance for a magical education and desperate to avoid expulsion, Vin teams up with her new friends to catch the real culprit. Propulsive pacing and a mischievous sense of humor characterize the close-third-person narrative of Pau Preto’s high-spirited middle grade debut. Inclusive messaging, whimsical worldbuilding, and an effervescent, racially diverse cast make up for the plot’s occasional predictability, and a tense epilogue cracks the door for a sequel. Ages 8–12. Agent: Penny Moore, Aevitas Creative. (Oct.)