THE VERDIGRIS PAWN

Power, truth, and revolution for the middle-grade set.

In the Land, Himself rules with military force. The wealthiest citizens live in Topend; the middle class live in Upper and Lower Middlelands, names that also describe their income levels. Everyone else scrapes by in the Bottom, which is still reeling from the battles when Himself ruthlessly went after anyone who could make charms, including his own wife. Beau, Himself’s heir, lives in ignorance in the Manor until a chance meeting with smart, talented Cressi shows him the true cost of his comfort, including the starving children taken by the Manor to pay their parents’ debts. When Cressi is imprisoned, Beau takes off with plucky Nate in search of a real-world ace—the mastermind figure in the chesslike game of Fist—to help him save Cressi and make the world fairer. Cressi, meanwhile, has her own adventures (and is the clear winner in every one). Everything and everyone’s being a take on a trope, combined with tissue-paper–thin worldbuilding, leads to an almost allegorical feel, as if it’s all a game of Fist played out with people. The lack of true obstacles (despite grim backstories, everything on-page works out) makes for an unexpectedly light take on young teens overthrowing a despotic government. Limited physical descriptions point to a White default.

Simple but charming.