MECHANICA by Betsy Cornwell

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A New York Times Bestseller 
Nicolette’s awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica” to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother’s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have pushed her into a life of dreary servitude. When she discovers a secret workshop in the cellar on her sixteenth birthday—and befriends Jules, a tiny magical metal horse—Nicolette starts to imagine a new life for herself. And the timing may be perfect: There’s a technological exposition and a royal ball on the horizon. Determined to invent her own happily-ever-after, Mechanica seeks to wow the prince and eager entrepreneurs alike.

PRAISE FOR MECHANICA

“A smart, refreshing alternative to stale genre tropes.”
—Kirkus, starred review

“Mechanica has a thoroughly modern theme and teaches young readers to find their passion and become self-reliant.”
—VOYA

“Readers looking for an atypical fairy tale will find this refreshing because it relies less on traditional romance or happy endings, and more on living independently and unconventionally, loving freely, and being able to choose your own destiny.”
—School Library Journal

“Fans of fairy-tale updates will find it easy to lose themselves in this bright, romantic story, whose hero shows she can not only have it all but also do it herself.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Readers who can’t get enough of the growing steampunk trend will happily pick this up.”‘
—Booklist

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Betsy Cornwell is an American writer and teacher living in west Ireland. She is the story editor and a contributing writer at Parabola, and her short-form writing includes fiction, nonfiction, and literary translation and has appeared in Fairy Tale Review, Zahir Tales, The Violence Prevention Initiative Journal, and elsewhere. She holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Notre Dame and a B.A. from Smith College.