THE SECRETS OF LOVELACE ACADEMY

Benedict and Sheinmel's YA historical fiction, set in the early 1900s, introduces 12-year-old orphan Lainey Phillips. Billie Fulford-Brown gives Lainey a believable voice as she struggles to grow and learn at the harsh Sycamore Home for Orphaned Children. Mrs. Holsapple's cruelty and disdain for her orphans comes through in every syllable she spits out in contrast to the oily charm she spouts to possible benefactors. Lainey's chance encounter with a woman at the orphanage's open house leads to a scholarship to Lovelace Academy. There, her roommate Marjorie's voice is condescending, while Sabrina's tone offers friendship. Lainey's confidence grows when a Lovelace mission sends her to Switzerland, where she wins over suspicious Mileva Maric Einstein, Albert's real-life wife, a physicist/mathematician who contributed to his ideas. N.E.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2025]