Iron Cast

Gr 7 Up—In an alternate historical Boston, just before the start of Prohibition, Ada and Corinne, two hemopaths—persons whose "afflicted" blood give them the ability to create illusions—work as entertainers in the Cast Iron night club owned by notorious gangster Johnny Dervish. But after a con gone wrong, Ada ends up imprisoned, and Johnny goes missing. Corinne risks everything, breaking into Haversham in a daring rescue attempt. But when the girls return home to the Cast Iron, they find they don't know who to trust. Soria addresses issues of prejudice through the treatment of hemopaths as second-class citizens. And though there are undertones of romantic interest, the real relationship in this story is the unfailing friendship between socialite Corinne and Ada, who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Christine Marshall narrates with a measured pace that maintains a steady rhythm even as the end of the book brings rapid-fire, fast-paced plot twists. Marshall's prosody is both lyrical and fitting to the main characters who create their blood illusion through the respective arts of poetry and music.