August 1, 2021
After Zora's magic causes a deadly accident, the Black teen is sent to live with family in New Orleans at the height of the Roaring '20s. Eighteen-year-old Zora's Aunt Celine insists that she prepare for the upcoming debutante season, but Zora has little interest in high-society functions or eligible bachelors. She sneaks out at night to perform for a jazz club's packed crowd under the stage name Sweet Willow. Music is everything to Zora: a talent, a passion, and the conduit for the magic she's inherited from her German grandmother, Mathilda, whom readers met in the multiple-authored series' previous volume, Broken Wish (2020) by Julie C. Dao. But ever since she lost control and brought down an entire building in a moment of righteous anger, Zora has been plagued by guilt and the fear of causing more harm. When Mama B, the local conjure woman, tells Zora that she can take away Zora's magic, she agrees to give up music in return. Her resolve wavers, though, when she falls in love with Phillip, a charming White boy who shares her love for jazz and is determined to be with her despite the risks that come with interracial relationships. Secrets and promises are central themes, and, as in the previous volume, prejudice is a primary source of conflict--here in the form of racial segregation. The clean, vivid prose and star-crossed romance will engage readers until the bittersweet end. A transportive and affecting tale. (Historical fantasy. 13-18)
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Starred review from September 1, 2021
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Clayton delivers the second book in the four-book fairy-tale series The Mirror, following Julie C. Dao's The Mirror: Broken Wish (2020). Zora Broussard is a young Black woman who flees to New Orleans from New York during the 1920s jazz era. She arrives in the South with little to her name except a pair of magical ruby shoes and the desire to be normal. Trying to forget a terrible accident her magic caused, she finds solace and a slice of happiness in singing. When Zora meets a dashing magical pianist named Phillip, their blossoming romance brings them into contact with an enchanted mirror that foretells the couple's future. Their love story might not end up being an enchanted one, since Phillip is white and they live in the segregated South. Zora must learn what's worth keeping and what's worth giving up, where love, magic, and music are concerned, ultimately deciding the lengths she'll to go for happiness. Clayton's historical fantasy is a smart, thrilling book that explores prejudice in respect to American segregation. Themes of racial trauma and oppression are joined by the equally weighty themes of finding oneself, fighting for love, and displaying courage. Try this with Destiny Soria's Iron Cast (2016), for another look at jazz-age magic and facing down prejudice.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Author of the best-selling The Belles, Clayton draws a crowd as if by magic.
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