By Judith Rossell
Dial / Penguin Random House, 2025
306 pages
979-8-217-00240-5
Ages 8-12
Expelled from her latest orphanage, Maggie (white) is dropped off at the Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls, where she joins fellow newcomers Nell (white) and Sofie (brown-skinned) in learning that the Institute’s dreary exterior is a front for a school that trains girls in the art of fighting crime. Often unnoticed and underestimated, girls can be rather useful in this arena. Maggie, Nell, and Sofie are enrolled in specialized classes (Hiding, Maps, Contriving, Motorcars, and Observing, to name a few) and each given a doll that conceals tools. Only a few weeks after the girls arrive at Midwatch, a man named Mr. Entwhistle enlists the school’s help: His friend, Miss Fenchurch, has disappeared, leaving a mysterious note behind. When Nell decodes the letter, the first years are assigned to the case. Sneaking into the city for a recon mission via old subway exits connected to Midwatch’s underground headquarters, the girls make three discoveries. The first is that Mr. Entwhistle has been bludgeoned by a soup tureen that seems to have fallen from the sky. Second, they find a dragonfly brooch hidden inside the library book Miss Fenchurch had been using. Finally, they realize they are being pursued. The girls’ investigations, along with their skills and daring spirits, lead them into and out of the hands of the villain in this funny, quirky mystery set in a lightly steampunk city. Ample pencil illustrations twine across the pages and add to the charm. ©2025 Cooperative Children’s Book Center