From the Publisher
The League of Seven is amazingly interesting, unique, and captivating. From the steam-powered, clockwork-run 1870s setting to the persistent protagonist to the fresh takes on important historical events and figures, the novel is hard to put down. Although it is written for a middle school audience, it also provides a clean, fast-paced romp for older students who do not mind an easy read.” —VOYA Teen Reviewer 5Q, 4P M J on The League of Seven
“An enticing alternate history presents an America in which Native tribes have as much power and presence as Yankees…. Gratz has created an imaginative world with appeal far beyond its immediate middle-grade market.” —Publishers Weekly on The League of Seven
“This hybrid of steampunk and alternate American history features… three highly likable leads in a yarn rip-roaring from start to finish.” —Booklist on The League of Seven
“An unusual twist to the familiar teens-saving-the-Earth-from-monsters trope: The protagonist is both archetypal hero and, at least potentially, nemesis.” —Kirkus Reviews on The League of Seven
Kirkus Reviews
2015-03-25
The company of heroes destined to battle the immortal Mangleborn continues to assemble in a middle volume that blurs the line between the good guys and the bad further. The theft of the titular lantern, which transforms people who see its light into monsters of diverse icky sorts, sends superstrong Archie in pursuit aboard a huge steam-powered robot captained by George Custer. Meanwhile, the vengeful search for those who massacred her home village leads young Seminole warrior Hachi to Marie Laveau's New Orleans for battles with zombis, loas, and a gigantic Mangleborn serpent. Gratz sets his colorful yarn in an alternate "North Americas" made up of several countries (both colonial and indigenous) and populates the teeming supporting cast with both historical personages, like a windup Jesse James, and an array of tentacled horrors. He pitches his gathering band of Leaguers—grown by the end to five of the appointed seven—into a nonstop round of chases, flights, ambushes, narrow squeaks, and heroic feats. Struggling with his own dark origins as well as a tendency to bouts of irrational, wildly destructive rage worthy of the Incredible Hulk, Archie leads a vividly drawn and diverse ensemble. Helquist's portraits of intrepid or menacing figures at the chapter heads signal the story's shifts in focus. Gratz has plenty of fun with his alternate history, but returning readers will notice that the dark is definitely rising. (map) (Fantasy/steampunk. 11-13)
