In Lloyds (A Snicker of Magic) latest engaging fantasy, Mallie Ramble travels from the mining town of Coal Top into the valley every day to work as a maid for a woman who calls her inspiring for having only one arm but who also uses the fact as an excuse to underpay her. (The disability is an important aspect of Mallies character, but never a defining one.) Mallie needs her earnings to help pay off her familys debt to the Guardians so they wont take her younger brother into the mines, where he would likely fall victim to the same Dust that took their fathers health. When the Guardians start recruiting boys for a special mission with the possibility of a big payoff, Mallie disguises herself as a boy and signs up. With the help of her friend Adam and her flying horse Leo, Mallie makes her way through dangerous paths to neighboring mountains and unravels the equally dangerous ways the Guardians are keeping the community under their control. Lloyd presents a bleak portrait of a fantasy-world mining community that faces similar challenges to the ones in our own real world, but Mallies story is essentially one of daring journeys and heroic adventure. sarah rettger March/April 2019 p 85(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Life in Coal Top has been bleak since the Dust came and smudged out the stars and moon. This murky sky is all Mallie Ramble has ever known, but she's heard stories of a magical time when the mountain people wove starlight rather than slaving in mines and cleaning the valley folks' homes. Her family receives a shock when imposing Guardians barge into their home one night, searching for Mallie's little brother, Denver. The Rambles are granted a brief reprieve to come up with the formidable sum of 5,000 feathersworth, or else Denver will be taken to work in the mines. Serendipity arrives in the form of a crumpled invitation that Mallie finds, seeking intrepid boys for dangerous adventures and riches untold. Tucking her hair beneath a hat, Mallie goes to the meeting, determined to save her brother and prove she's as brave and capable as any boy. A series of secret missions await the recruits, involving monsters, flying horses, gold dust, and unsettling truths. Strong themes of friendship and loyalty drive Lloyd's (A Snicker of Magic, 2014) story, which soars under Mallie's heroic lead. Her fiery and bighearted nature pierce the Dust and deceit covering Coal Top, and her physical disability never holds her back. Rather, she bravely proves that questions have power and one's story can be reshaped.--Julia Smith Copyright 2019 Booklist

A 12-year-old struggles as her family's sole breadwinner until a dangerous opportunity offers financial freedom. Mallie Ramble manages her work as a maid in the valley just fine, though her employer condescends to her about her artificial arm, an orange "Popsnap" in "a universal color that fits everybody." Above the valley, Mallie's dust-covered home on Coal Top is ruled by malevolent authorities who threaten to force Mallie's beloved seven-year-old brother into the mines. When a flyer calls for "fellers" ("orphans preferred") "unafraid to ride and race and fly in the fear of certain death," Mallie bravely volunteers to fly Starbirds-airborne horses-and collect gold dust from distant mountaintops. The bond between Mallie and her Starbird, Leo, proves strong as an evil plot comes to light, as does her chemistry with her best friend Adam and the horse trainer Iggy. Though characterization can feel flimsy, Lloyd (The Key to Extraordinary) deftly sketches oppressive social and economic circumstances and firmly establishes Mallie's bravery. Ages 8-12. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A girl with a missing arm must question everything she knows to save her brother.The poverty-stricken citizens of Coal Top, high atop Forgotten Mountain, must "live the stories [they're] given." Once upon a time, Weavers wove wonderful dreams from starlightuntil clouds of mood-darkening Dust blotted the stars. Now, by order of the ruling, all-male Guardians, boys must labor in the mines Down Below, and girls become maids for rich valley families. But 12-year-old Mallie Ramble, a self-described "fire-popper in a glass jar" with an orange prosthetic arm (a "universal color" that matches no one's actual skin tone), vows to save her sweet-as-pie little brother from laboring Down Below to pay the Rambles' debts. With remarkable luck, Mallie joins a group of "brave and wiry young fellers" invited to risk their lives on flying horses for chances at "riches untold." Her realistic self-consciousness must become self-confidence, however, when she discovers a nefarious plot. Despite occasionally lyrical turns of phrase, Lloyd ultimately leaves little for readers to imagine. Heroes are as distinct from villains as starlight is from Dust; the simplistic contrast of pure good and pure evil turns the ending trite and cloyingly sweet. Though Mallie says she's "met all kinds of people, who look all kinds of different ways," racial distinctions are largely unspoken; a gender-nonconforming secondary character with two different-colored eyes is 3 feet tall.The themes of facing fears and questioning authority are laudable, but even a feisty disabled narrator on a flying horse can't quite soar over their heavy-handed execution. (Fantasy. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.