Armor for Liars

Grove (The Waning Age) spins a historical dark feminist tale set in a patriarchal society built upon secretive necromantic magic. In 1882, tenacious teenage Clementine Quinn, who reads as white, secretly trains as a female enchanter during a time when only men “of the correct education, station, and background” are given license to practice magic. Disguising herself as a male student, Clem gains entrance to Massachusetts Commonwealth University, a school dedicated to the study of enchantments. She aims to free her late mother’s soul from the Cisneros Society, a group of powerful magic users and the most elite of Massachusetts society, who have a history of murdering and binding women’s power to their own as “spirit[s] chained to another man’s will for eternity.” Meanwhile, restless Latinx-cued ghost Sam, an aspiring enchanter recently murdered by the Cisneros Society, keeps a watchful eye on Clem, who seems unaware that the further she digs into Cisneros, the more precarious her situation becomes. Letters written from Clem to her mother punctuate Sam’s sharp first-person POV. As the protagonists join forces, their pursuit of justice and vengeance coalesces into a cunning, high-stakes adventure. Ages 12–up. Agent: Susan Hawk, Upstart Crow Literary. (July)