Glass

Though her family is renowned throughout England for its glassmaking artistry, Bess Wickham craves reality and nature over crystalline perfection, in part due to her affinity for gardening and ability to speak with birds. When she discovers the dark secret behind her family’s glass creations, she leaves home to dwell with her animal friends in the woods, where she slowly develops her magical talents. Meanwhile, newly orphaned Estrella, whose recently deceased grandfather worked at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, is sent to live with her distant cousins the Wickhams, who swiftly corral her into indentured servitude. Their fates drawn together by the Wickhams’ cruelty and dark magic, Bess and Estrella’s paths soon cross, with Bess acting as Estrella’s magical benefactor. While fanciful and well constructed, the climax of this loose reimagining of “Cinderella” by Lasky (The Searchers) feels rushed, lending to uneven momentum and lowered stakes. Nevertheless, Lasky adds texture to the familiar elements and story beats by injecting intriguing new twists, such as the increased focus upon magical glass, as well as by recasting the relationship between Cinderella and her fairy godmother as one between two tweens seeking connection and independence. The protagonists read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Book Group. (Aug.)