The After-Room

September 15, 2015
Orpheus and Eurydice as incipient Cold War spies. In the third and final adventure in Meloy's Apothecary series, "the universe is doing its work, and we are only part of it....We are the vessel through which it flows." Benjamin Burrows, now orphaned, lives with Janie Scott and her parents. He and Janie are going through the motions of high school life in 1955 Ann Arbor, but grief and depression make him sympathetically remote. When Benjamin confides that he has contacted his father in the After-Room (a vague purgatorial space between the natural and supernatural realms), Janie is both panicked and intrigued. As they pursue answers about the afterlife, the universe reunites the pair with many of their old friends (Vili, Pip, Jin Lo) in the service of preventing another nuclear disaster. Meanwhile, the teenagers and their allies find themselves alternately pursued by the carabinieri, the Mafia, the United States Navy, Chinese pirates, and their fatal nemesis, Danby. As with the previous novel in the series, The Apprentices (2013), Meloy excels at bringing readers quickly up to speed on the characters' histories, and she achingly conveys the razor-thin line between the elation and despair of first love. This series finale wraps up most of its loose ends in a satisfying bow, leaving just enough room for imaginative middle-grade readers and teens to conjure up their own futures for Janie and Benjamin. (Historical fantasy. 10-14)

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October 1, 2015

Gr 5-9-In this trilogy finale, the remaining conspirators push aside sadness to fight nuclear proliferation using the magical Pharmacopeia book. It's 1955, and Benjamin and Janie drown in alternating tides of grief and confusion. Benjamin's new acquaintance Doyle claims Benjamin can contact his dead father in a liminal place called the After-room, but Janie worries deeply about Doyle and this kind of magic. Even as they head to Rome for more adventures, their old friend Jin Lo tracks down the missing nuclear weapon in the China seas, needing the magical help only they can provide. In the final novel, their work requires greater sacrifice and dedication of purpose. Events move at a whirlwind pace. Alternating chapters from events in the United States and China keep the dramatic tension tight even as the book's tone is painted by grief and the losses suffered in The Apprentices (Penguin, 2013). The nuclear weapon hunt, while crucial, seems less epic than Benjamin's and Janie's prior quests. Their use of magic is more practiced and less wondrous. Nonetheless, secondary characters like Doyle and Jin Lo's friend Ned are gems, and everyone's wanderings somehow collapse back in as neatly as a Chinese fan. For Benjamin and Janie, life holds great meaning. Readers will find much to contemplate in their journey. Pair this with Maggie Stiefvater's "The Raven Cycle" books (Scholastic) for fantasy above the common order. VERDICT A cerebral fantasy with enough action to keep readers on their toes. Purchase to complete the trilogy.-Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT

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