Petra K and the Blackhearts by M. Henderson Ellis (review)

Mocked at school and neglected at home, young Petra K finds sanctuary in the streets of Pava, where forbidden magic is still practiced, mechanized automatons hawk their wares, and miniature dragons run wild. Archibald the Precious, the ruling dictator of Pava, has already outlawed magic and is now having his military (the Boot) scour the streets, taking into custody any dragonka, the miniaturized show dragons that were once pets of the wealthy. Petra K finds an injured dragonka and takes the creature home to care for it, naming it Luma, but her mother turns the dragon in, abandoning Petra K to the Boot. Petra K escapes and joins the Black-hearts , a gang of orphaned children turned revolutionaries. When she realizes that Archibald plans on killing Luma to use its heart to replace his failing one, she and the Blackhearts storm the castle, sparking the much awaited revolution. The blend of magic and machinery is eerily intriguing, much as in William Alexander’s Goblin Secrets (BCCB 4/12). Petra K is a stalwart but accessible heroine—her struggles with her friends and her mother give her immediate appeal while her transformation from schoolgirl to revolutionary is authentically bumpy, occurring in fits and starts as she is plagued by doubts and miscalculations. Her simple, direct narration doesn’t do much scene-setting (more description of the dragonka would have been welcome), but it also provides moments of poignancy (“Deklyn was the most alone person I had ever met”). The ending makes this a bit of a tearjerker for pet lovers—Luma does indeed die–but sharing this as a classroom or family readaloud may soften the blow and spur some thoughtful discussion about love, loss, and loyalty.