The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents - Hardcover

Buch 1 von 2: The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents

Pau Preto, Nicki

 
9780593528518: The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0593528514 ISBN 13: 9780593528518
Verlag: Viking Books for Young Readers, 2024

Inhaltsangabe

A middle grade magic school fantasy perfect for fans of The School for Good and Evil and Witchlings, in which a girl with unparalleled power must work with her misfit classmates to save her new school.

Lavinia “Vin” Lucas is out of control and out of options. Stranded by parents who would rather use their average magical abilities to study dung beetles than raise her, Vin's been on her own for years. But she’s never been able to corral her own powerful, unpredictable magic. After years of detention, suspension, and expulsion from magic schools far and wide, she’s now being sent to the Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents. If she gets expelled, it’s the end of the line. 

Now, Vin is determined to behave. Except no one at Last Hope seems to want her to. Her new teachers—particularly the school’s kind headmistress—push her to explore her magic, and her mischievous classmates delight in every accident. And all the while, a mysterious fire sprite, a suspicious instructor, and her overwhelming abilities might just sabotage Vin. But for the first time, she is not alone.

So when a former student begins attacking the school, Vin must question just how much she knows about the headmistress and her new home. Is this place worth saving? And are her budding abilities—and every trick, trap, and deception in her friends’ delinquent arsenal—enough to protect Last Hope?

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Nicki Pau Preto is a fantasy author living just outside of Toronto—though her dislike of hockey, snow, and geese makes her the worst Canadian in the country. She studied art and art history in university and worked as a graphic designer before becoming a writer full-time. She is the author of the Crown of Feathers trilogy and Bonesmith. She can be found online at NickiPauPreto.com and on Instagram @NickiPauPreto.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

1
Trouble
Lavinia Lucas was in trouble. Again.
She sat outside the headmaster’s office, stinking of smoke and singed fabric as she slouched in an overstuffed armchair, her feet dangling and her arms crossed. Waiting.
The waiting was always the worst part. The teachers liked to throw her foreboding looks as they passed—-their lips tight with disappointment—-while the other students whispered and giggled behind their hands.
What did Lavinia Lucas do this time?
“Jessie Davies said she was caught with a boy behind the bleachers,” one girl said, loudly enough for her voice to carry. Vin rolled her eyes.
“I heard she tried to set Amy Carmichael’s hair on fire,” piped in an older boy, craning his neck to get a look at Vin as he and his friends passed. That one was at leastclose to the truth. Amy had been there, anyway.
And there had also been fire.
“That’s not it. Her parents wrote the school saying they can’t pay her tuition, and when Miss Thornbury told her, she had a fit.”
Untrue. Even if Vin’s parents paid her tuition—-which they didn’t—-they wouldn’t bother to write the school to refuse. They’d just ignore it, like they did all the letters sent their way.
Vin lurched upright in her chair. Her sudden movement made the passing students jump and skitter away as if she were a rabid dog straining against her leash.
She smiled darkly as she settled back into her seat. That was theone good part about her growing reputation. Since the gossip about her was always so far--fetched and unreliable, nobody actually knew what she was capable of. So, they were afraid of her.
To be fair, evenVin didn’t really know what she might do next. Sometimes it was fire and smoke—-like today—-and other times it was raining ice and sleet . . . or cats and dogs. With every detention and expulsion, with every scorch mark and emotionally scarred staff member, the legend grew.
And after three detentions in one week—-a new record—-she had leapfrogged idle curiosity and mob mentality to land squarely on fear, all before her two--week anniversary. The school year was off to a great start.
“The headmaster is ready for you,” said the secretary, pointing Vin to the headmaster’s open door. The instant Vin stepped through, the door snapped shut behind her.
She walked into the center of the room, chin held high. Her long curtain of dark hair hung lank around her face, smelling of smoke and crusted with fire extinguisher goop. Burnt pieces of her school blazer flaked off, leaving a trail of ashes on the thick woven rug.
The headmaster of Strictland School of Magic watched her approach, seated behind his massive oak desk, looming above her like a judge in a courtroom. He gestured for her to sit, so she perched on the rickety wooden chair before him. There was no point in making herself too comfortable. She knew what was coming, and it wouldn’t take long.
“Lavinia, Lavinia, Lavinia,” he said, more and more gravely with each repetition, until her name sounded like a gong heralding the end of the world. Headmaster Pratt’s graying hair was combed neatly across his forehead, attempting to conceal a shining bald patch, and he wore a sweater vest with the Strictland emblem embroidered on the chest. His hands were knitted together on the desk before him, resting on her open—-and uncommonly thick—-file.
“Vin,” she corrected stiffly. She hated her full name, which always made her feel like she was in trouble. Of course, shewas in trouble, so perhaps she ought to let him use it to avoid confusion.
“Yes, well,” he said, smiling tightly at her. “We have much to discuss today, La—-Miss Lucas, and none of it good.”
Vin squirmed uneasily. If “Lavinia” meant she was in trouble, “Miss Lucas” surely meant she was inbig trouble. Surname trouble.
“It was an accident,” she said automatically. She knew it didn’t matter, that the truth never mattered, but it was all part of the song and dance that was Vin’s life at school.
“An accident?” repeated someone from behind Vin, making her jump. She whirled around to see a woman seated in the corner of the room, next to the door. As the woman got to her feet, she looked to Vin like a flagpole in a tweed suit. She was tall and rake thin, her spine ramrod straight, her curly hair pinned down and stiff with hairspray.
Vin hadn’t noticed her when she’d come in, her own attention too focused on Headmaster Pratt—-her judge, jury, and executioner. But now she had to wonder . . . was this woman here for the defense or the prosecution?
“Ah, yes,” the headmaster said, clearing his throat. He seemed . . . not cross, exactly, but perhaps irked that this woman had interrupted what was meant to behis interrogation. As far as Vin could tell, getting students in trouble was a headmaster’s primary role and single source of joy in any given school year.
“Miss Lucas, this is Mrs. Priscilla Prim. She’s an inspector sent by the school board.”
Well,this was something new.
And also, Vin suspected, something bad.
Mrs. Prim nodded at Vin, her lips pursed, and came to stand next to the headmaster’s desk, hands clasped behind her back. “I am here, Miss Lucas, to determine if saidaccident is likely to occur again. The purpose of magecraft education, as defined in the Treaty of 1695, is to teach discipline and restraint. To teachcontrol.”
Vin wasvery familiar with the tenets of the Treaty, which had been ranted and recited at her all her life.
Magic must be controlled.
Magic must be contained.
Magic is a privilege, not a right.
“Your reckless use of magic and wanton destruction of school property are serious matters, with or without intent,” Mrs. Prim continued. “And thus, we must discuss alternative solutions.”
“Alternative solutions . . .”?Vin repeated blankly.
“We requested the presence of your parents at this meeting,” the headmaster began uncomfortably, “but were unable to get in touch with them. It seems their address has changed in the short two weeks since your registration, and their phone number does not appear to be in service . . .” He trailed off, eyes narrowed in either confusion or suspicion, Vin couldn’t be sure.
“Very strange,” ?Vin said, pushing him toward the former. The truth was, her parents never stayed in one place long enough to receive mail, and when they did, it was usually so far out of the way that by the time it arrived, the topic was no longer relevant—-and the school on the letterhead a place Vin no longer attended.
They “went where the work was,” according to them. Their field of study? Dung beetles. Vin had never seen two people more obsessed with insects than her parents, who were low--level mages with high--level curiosity when it came to bugs. They weren’t interested in anything with only two feet, and that included their daughter.
The problem was, each time Vin attended a new school, she was required to file new paperwork. Apparently they didn’t like it when you left half the fields blank, so she’d started using fake addresses and a burner phone with an old voicemail recording, which was easier than actually trying to track her parents down. Most of the time, she didn’t even know which country they were living in. Was it Canada or Costa Rica? Mexico or Malta?
So she filled out the forms...

„Über diesen Titel“ kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Verlag
Viking Books for Young Readers
Erscheinungsdatum
2024
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0593528514
ISBN 13 
9780593528518
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
352
Kontakt zum Hersteller
VIKING
https://www.penguin.com/overview-vikingbooks/

Attn: Andrea T Sheridan 1745 BROADWAY
New York
NY
10019
USA
Verantwortliche Person
gpsr@libri.de
gpsr@libri.de

Friedensallee 273
Hamburg
22763
Deutschland

Weitere beliebte Ausgaben desselben Titels

9780593528525: The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents

Vorgestellte Ausgabe

ISBN 10:  0593528522 ISBN 13:  9780593528525
Verlag: Viking Books for Young Readers, 2025
Softcover