Wrede, Patricia C. ~ Thirteenth Child ~ Scholastic, 2009 ~ 344 pages ~ some tweens,  some teens, some adults.

"Everybody knows that a seventh son is lucky. Things come a little easier to him, all his life long: love and money and fine weather and the unexpected turn that brings good fortune from bad circumstances."

This is the first volume in the "Frontier Magic" series. Eff is the main character. She is the thirteenth child. Just as the seventh son of a seventh son is nearly guaranteed good fortune and easy magical ability, the thirteenth child is often thought to be evil and likely to cause misfortune to others. Eff's twin brother Lan is a seventh son of a seventh son. Perhaps because of the value of the seventh son or religious doctrine [not mentioned in this volume], families in this alternative United States of Columbia tend to be  large.

While technology is fairly advanced -- railways and rifles, this is a world where magic is part of every-day life. There are three major schools of magic in the world, but the dominant one is Avrupan {European}. Besides the ability to create spells for normal life such as housekeeping, major spells are used on the frontier to protect settlements from a variety of dangerous creatures including steam dragons. Eff and Lan move to the edge of the frontier near the beginning of the story and the reader gradually learns more about the frontier, settlements, and their dangers. Their father is an accomplished magician who takes a position at a frontier college. One major thread in this volume is to introduce the reader to this alternative world with its physical geography [a front matter map would be helpful], economics, politics, and especially its culture.

Eff has been hassled by family members and others for a long time about being potentially or actually evil or just bad luck. The move to the frontier provides an opportunity to get away from all that. Still, she doubts herself and still believes that she may in fact be evil or potentially evil. Although she is bright and has magical ability, her inner turmoil and doubt creates a variety of problems. If her life is to go forward, she must discover her true nature and believe in herself. Aphrikan magic provides one opportunity to do that. An unexpected trip across the frontier and beyond the great Barrier Shield that protects the eastern states of Columbia provides another opportunity. Still, she must decide what to do and how to do it.

The focus is on character and personal growth. The family interactions are important and are explored in some depth. Until the final pages, there is little action and that is fairly brief. Major characters are well developed and their interactions strengthen the story. World building is nicely done with a country that is both recognizable and notably different. Writing is clear and content flows well.

The jacket design by Christopher Stengel is mostly typographic in a frontier style with three small sketches well tied to the story. Type is dark and reasonably large. There is good white space.

Recommendation:

As the first volume in a series, Thirteenth Child, establishes major and minor characters, develops the setting in some detail, and suggests future directions for Eff and frontier magic. The lack of action and the focus on character development may lessen interest by some readers and strengthen interest by others. A female, teen-aged main character should attract female readers. Wrede is an accomplished and popular author. Her work has strong cross-over potential for adults as well as teens. Since her other works have been so popular, the new series is highly recommended. The alternate U.S. setting provides several good book talk possibilities.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of this series (as soon as Patricia C. Wrede writes & publishes it, that is). It is a delightful story of a young girl growing up in an alternative U.S. in the late 19th century, where magic is ubiquitous and woolly mammoths share the wilderness with dragons. Eff is the thirteenth child--the seventh daughter and the older twin of the seventh son. Until her family moves to the frontier when she is five years old, Eff is tormented by some of her many relatives about being the unlucky #13, destined to turn bad. The psychological scars prove difficult to eradicate and cause Eff to be afraid of her own magical abilities, despite the encouragement of her teachers, parents, and friends.

Once I free up some bookshelf space, I will go buy myself a copy. I already want to reread it!

For reader's advisory purposes: character & story doorways, with setting an important factor, too.