At Miss Maisie’s School for Wayward Girls, twelve-year-old Audacity Jones is holding everything together by the force of her personality. Who comforts distraught students? Who makes Professor Teachtest’s* lessons bearable? Who learns how to repair the school roof on her own? Audacity. But when the opportunity for adventure presents itself, she cannot resist.

Audacity is off with Commodore Crutchfield on an adventure of dubious merit. He won’t reveal the purpose of their errand, which takes them to Washington, D.C., and has hired a nefarious seeming chauffeur/assistant with the ominous name of ‘Cypher.’ When Audacity is abandoned at the DC train station, she is taken under the care of Juice, who is determined to see to her wellbeing. Additionally, back at the School Wayward for Girls, Audacity’s fellow students have begun to suspect something is wrong due to the unusual nature of her postcards.

Audacity is a well written and relatable heroine – especially in her tendency to seek out time in the ‘punishment room’ (library) of the School for Wayward girls. The story is engaging and engrossing, as one might expect from Kirby Lawson. I’d give this novel to fans of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events books. I hope to see more of Audacity’s adventures in the future.

*Professor Teachtest is a particular call-out to those serving in today’s school environment:

The first pupil — and Mis Maisie’s favorite — was enrolled in the School for Wayward Girls, where most of the girls were neither wayward nor schooled except in through the latest fad in education: Professor Teachtest’s Apple Core Method. Even Divinity had to admit that without Audie’s stories to make the dreary lessons and relentless testing palatable, Professor Teachtest’s Method would have turned each Wayward mind to mush. The professor could not be reached to defend himself: He was in the process of purchasing his third villa in Tuscany.