The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy

Now available!

From the acclaimed author of The Real Boy and The Lost Girl comes a wondrous and provocative fantasy about a kingdom beset by monsters, a mysterious school, and a girl caught in between them.

If no one notices Marya Lupu, it’s likely because of her brother, Luka. And that’s because of what everyone knows: that Luka is destined to become a sorcerer.

The Lupus might be from a small village far from the capital city of Illyria, but that doesn’t matter. Every young boy born in in the kingdom holds the potential for the rare ability to wield magic, to protect the country from the terrifying force known only as the Dread…

A Parents Magazine Best Book of 2021
A Kirkus Reviews Top Ten Middle Grade of 2021
An Indie Next Pick

It’s Marya’s inner conflict as she asks the question, ‘Who does the story serve?’ and considers what she has always been told about herself that elevates this tale into unmissable territory… A wonderful and inspiring feminist fantasy.
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Via a winningly curious protagonist who has a keen interest in the truth, Ursu weaves a layered tapestry—filled with close-knit relationships and a well-explained, intriguing world—that questions authority, misogyny, and whom a story serves.
—Publishers Weekly

The remarkable Anne Ursu here crafts a wondrous fantasy set in a colorfully described medieval world of sorcery and magic, yet conveying a very contemporary-feeling and empowering feminist message. It’s a thrilling coming-of-age novel…
—Buffalo News

An accessible, timely school story with a rather Transylvanian flavor to its fantasy setting. Ursu explores girls’ conditioning in timidity and shame in a male-dominated world and, ultimately, envisions a hopeful, female-determined future of magical ability.
—Horn Book Magazine

A suspenseful tale woven with secrets and magic, with a gasp-worthy twist at the end, The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy is everything I love about fantasy. Spell-binding.
—Christina Soontornvat, Newbery Honor-winning author of A Wish in the Dark

Anne Ursu practices her own brand of sorcery—the ability to craft wondrous, magical stories that are unlike anything you’ve ever read. Another extraordinary tale from a remarkably talented author.
—Erin Entrada Kelly, Newbery Medal-winning author of Hello, Universe

A thoughtful and incisive story of lies told to control people and the complicated girls who ask questions, push back, and keep fighting.
—Tui Sutherland, New York Times bestselling author of the Wings of Fire series

It’s no secret that Anne Ursu is a gifted storyteller… Intricately plotted and compulsively readable, with characters who will stay with you long after you stop reading. I could not put it down.”
—Aisha Saeed, New York Times bestselling author of Amal Unbound

[The Troubled Girls] manages the particular magic of being both a true fantasy novel and a clear-eyed reflection of the here-and-now. Bighearted, generous, and outstandingly original, this is a story only Anne Ursu could write.
—Elana K. Arnold, award-winning author of The House That Wasn’t There

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About Anne

Anne Ursu is the author of acclaimed novels The Lost Girl, Breadcrumbs, and The Real Boy, which was longlisted for the National Book Award. The recipient of the McKnight Fellowship in Children’s Literature, Anne is also a member of the faculty at Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Minneapolis with her family and an ever-growing number of cats.

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