The Ink of Elspet (The Inkwell Chronicles #1)

A reverend’s children seek to preserve the rare, magical Ink that’s long fueled creativity in debut author Peabody’s uneven series opener. In the early 1950s, 11-year-old Everett and eight-year-old Bea live in a London vicarage with their clergyman father, who uses Ink to create the Max Courageous comics for which he is known. When he heads to Scotland to conduct a secret mission, public use of the liquid attracts attention, leading to a terrible train accident that leaves him presumed dead. With his fountain pen delivered to Max and Bea, who present as white, the two become aware of the long conflict between Inklings, a worldwide force of creators who defend and use Ink, and inhuman “blotters,” who seek to destroy the Ink and those who would use it. They also find that they’re in danger of becoming the blotters’ next target. Partnering with Trey, an amnesiac boy with Indian heritage, the siblings seek the last known source of Ink before the bumbling yet nefarious blotters can cause further harm; to do so, Bea turns to hymns and prayers, and Everett wrestles with doubt and frustration. Heavy-handed moralizing and derivative fantasy tropes undercut the telling, but whimsical elements, including a gondola carried by a giant invisible pigeon, prove bright spots. Ages 8–12. Agent: Curtis Russell, P.S. Literary. (Sept.)