The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents

August 5, 2024
A lonely tween finds her place among fellow misunderstood magicians in this empowering fantasy from Pau Preto (the House of the Dead duology). When yet another magical mishap gets 12-year-old Lavinia “Vin” Lucas expelled from her eighth boarding school in three years,
the Worldwide Magecraft School Board remands her to The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents in rural New Jersey. Upon arriving, Vin expects to be an outcast, like always; instead, she finds a trio of loyal pals and starts learning to control her abilities thanks to headmistress Ava Hope’s kind, patient tutelage. Just as Vin begins to feel at home, however, someone tries to frame her for a series of increasingly dangerous and seemingly impossible accidents. Certain this is her last chance for a magical education and desperate to avoid expulsion, Vin teams up with her new friends to catch the real culprit. Propulsive pacing and a mischievous sense of humor characterize the close-third-person narrative of Pau
Preto’s high-spirited middle grade debut. Inclusive messaging, whimsical worldbuilding, and an effervescent, racially diverse cast make up for the plot’s occasional predictability, and a tense epilogue cracks the door for a sequel. Ages 8–12. Agent: Penny Moore, Aevitas Creative.

September 1, 2024
A girl ends up at a school for magical delinquents, desperate to fit in and gain control of her powers. Twelve-year-old Lavinia "Vin" Lucas is always in trouble. Lacking control of her magic, Vin has been expelled from multiple boarding schools for dangerous magical outbursts. With her parents off pursuing their fieldwork studies on dung beetles, Vin is sent to the Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents. Hoping this will be the place where she finally belongs, Vin is pleased to discover that the school is unlike any other: Her classmates admire her magical blunders, the headmistress encourages her to use her powers, and everyone's magic blurs the boundaries of the standard categories. Even though it seems like a fresh start, Vin is determined to behave and refuses to use her magic, instead accepting being put in level one with the younger students. But when a fire sprite appears and Vin is held responsible for spells that seemingly don't fit her powers, she starts to question whether she really is the cause of the trouble at her new school. With help from her new friends, Vin sets out to discover the truth before she's expelled again--or destroys the school. This engaging magic school story has hijinks, humor, mystery, and action. The epilogue sets up for the sequel, which readers will anticipate. Vin presents white; there's racial diversity among the secondary characters. An absorbing, mischief-filled fantasy. (magecraft categories)(Fantasy. 8-12)

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September 13, 2024
Grades 4-7 Vin Lucas is a magical misfit whose uncontrollable outbursts have gotten her booted from one sorcery school after another. She is now--after a fiery fiasco-on her way to her final opportunity to get herself and her powers together at the Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents. Run by the uber-understanding but mysterious Headmistress Hope and peopled with an engaging group of highly magical students who are all at the end of their "educational opportunities," Vin struggles to get a grip on herself and to learn who she can trust as someone tries to sabotage her (and her classmates') last hope. Filled with fast-paced and engaging magical mayhem, Preto's novel also dives into ideas of trust and friendship that give the story a deeper meaning that will appeal to readers who feel misunderstood or left out. The perfect book (and new series) for middle-grade readers who love series like The School for Good and Evil and Harry Potter.

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