(4) YA Steampunk Chronicles series. Finley dies in order to enter the Aether and save her love, Griffin, who is being held captive by his (dead) archenemy, Garibaldi. Meanwhile, Mila (formerly an automaton, now a girl) decides to run away in order to break free from her criminal caretaker, Jack. Cross's fifth series entry is filled with bold characters, overwrought situations, passionate romances, and dastardly deeds.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano

(4) YA Steampunk Chronicles series. Emily is kidnapped by automatons serving a comatose Frankenstein-like scientist. Finley (The Girl in the Iron Corset; The Girl in the Clockwork Collar) and her friends must find Emily before she is forced to transplant the Machinist's brain into a new host--her boyfriend, Sam. This mix of romance, sci-fi, fantasy, and adventure requires much suspension of disbelief but provides an entertaining, page-turning read.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA Steampunk series. Illustrated by Zdenko Basic. Wells's innovative contributions to science fiction are celebrated in this collection that brings together the first novel about time travel (The Time Machine), the first to dramatize an alien invasion (The War of the Worlds), and an especially eerie short story about how disabilities are perceived ("The Country of the Blind"). Basic's precise, haunting illustrations add a steampunk vibe to Wells's imaginative vision.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) YA Steampunk Chronicles series. This overly long sequel to The Girl in the Steel Corset finds Finley Jayne in New York City, again struggling to control her dark side. She infiltrates a criminal gang in order to rescue her friend, Jasper, and his love, Mei, who is forced to wear a clockwork collar that tightens if someone makes a wrong move. An entertaining, if messy, mash-up of Victorian technology and romance.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) YA Steampunk series. Illustrated by Zdenko Basic & Manuel Sumberac. Stark illustrations featuring shadowed landscapes, silhouetted figures, roiling clouds, eerie mists, and, of course, omnipresent gears give a new steampunk flavor to this unabridged version of Shelley's gothic tale. Precise detail and sharply contrasting tones help make the illustrations mysteriously chilling. The elegant design and high-quality production values will help increase the appeal of this classic story to new readers.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) YA Steampunk Chronicles series. In this bubblegum mix of romance and steampunk set in Victorian England, sixteen-year-old Finley struggles to contain her dark, violent impulses. A band of misfits harbors Finley, and together the group works to solve crimes committed by someone known as the Machinist. There's almost as many love triangles as automatons here; fans of snappy sci-fi romance will read full-steam ahead.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute