The Marvellers: the bestselling magical fantasy adventure


 
 “The Marvellers deserves the highest compliment I can give a book: I want to live in this world. You can stop looking at admissions brochures for all those other schools of magic. The Arcanum Training Institute for Marvelous and Uncanny Endeavors is definitely where you want to apply.”
 —RICK RIORDAN, #1 New York Times–bestselling author
 “With fantastical twists at every turn, Clayton has created a world that readers won’t want to leave. The Marvellers is magical!”
 —ANGIE THOMAS, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Hate U Give and Concrete Rose
 “A ‘Marvellerous’ middle grade debut! Delightful, charming, exceptionally clever, and filled with suspense and humor.”
 —LISA MCMANN, New York Times–bestselling author of The Forgotten Five series
 “Never in all my years of reading have I encountered a book that so seamlessly weaves together mind-bending marvels, cultural relevance, and powerful historical themes . . . all in a richly imagined world I would give anything to live in.”
 —NIC STONE, #1 New York Times– bestselling author of Dear Martin
 “An expertly crafted amalgamation of rich, cultural representation wrapped up in a magic school adventure . . . sure to be a well-loved favorite.”
 —J. ELLE, New York Times–bestselling author of Wings of Ebony
 “Dhonielle Clayton’s beautiful prose showcases how honoring differences and sharing gifts can build the strongest friendships. The Marvellers illuminates stellar storytelling through the lens of a Black girl learning to embrace the full potential of her magic.”
 —KAREN STRONG, author of Just South of Home and Eden’s Everdark
 “A new classic. Clayton creates a luminous world where everyone can find themselves within the halls of the Arcanum Training Institute. I’m ready to be transported into the sequel!”
 —ZORAIDA CÓRDOVA, award-winning author of Labyrinth Lost and The Way to Rio Luna
 “The fantasy adventure the world needs. The Marvellers is a cultural reset, the kind of thorny, exciting, and magical story that I’ve needed my whole life. Where’s book two? I already need it!”
 —MARK OSHIRO, author of The Insiders
 
 For the kids missing from magic stories who started to believe that there was nothing marvelous about them
 &
 for Jason Reynolds, who hates dragons! Beloved readers, be sure to ask him why.
 CONTENTS
 The Paragons
 Part I: A Brand-New World
 Chapter One: The Luck Root
 Chapter Two: The Stardust Pier
 Chapter Three: The Bottle Tree
 Chapter Four: Midnight Lanterns
 Chapter Five: New Beginnings . . . and the Marvellian Way!
 Chapter Six: Jumping Jollof
 Chapter Seven: Spices & Deathbulls
 Part II: Conjure Light
 Chapter Eight: Light and World-Eggs
 Chapter Nine: The Cardinals and Starposts
 Chapter Ten: Conjure Marks and Haints
 Chapter Eleven: Detention
 Chapter Twelve: Smile for the News-Boxes!
 Chapter Thirteen: Blueprints
 Chapter Fourteen: Knitting Visions
 Chapter Fifteen: The Red Book
 Part III: Arcanum Secrets
 Chapter Sixteen: Extended Vacations
 Chapter Seventeen: The Gatherfeast & Returned Starposts
 Chapter Eighteen: The Rotties & Hot Maps
 Chapter Nineteen: Masterji Thakur’S Lair
 Chapter Twenty: Dean Nabokova
 Chapter Twenty-One: Secrets & Gags
 Chapter Twenty-Two: Yarn Prophecies!
 Chapter Twenty-Three: Alibis!
 Part IV: The Ace of Anarchy
 Chapter Twenty-Four: The Pocket-Box
 Chapter Twenty-Five: The Commedia Close
 Chapter Twenty-Six: The Canal of Mirrors
 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Grandest Illusion
 Chapter Twenty-Eight: Marvel Light
 Chapter Twenty-Nine: To be a Marveller . . . Or Not To Be?
 Chapter Thirty: The Discipline Board
 Chapter Thirty-One: The Marvel Examination
 
 Acknowledgments
 Copyright
 THE PARAGONS
 
 PARAGON OF TOUCH
 “The hand has no fear!”
 The brave
 
 PARAGON OF SPIRIT
 “The heart beats true!”
 The intuitive
 
 PARAGON OF VISION
 “The eyes are wise!”
 The sage
 
 PARAGON OF SOUND
 “The ears listen well!”
 The patient
 
 PARAGON OF TASTE
 “The tongue tells truth!”
 The honest
 
 THE ARCANUM TRAINING INSTITUTE FOR MARVELOUS AND UNCANNY ENDEAVORS
 LOWER SCHOOL
 Salutations and Greetings of the Most Magnificent Kind,
 
 We are thrilled to inform you that you’ve been accepted into the Arcanum Training Institute for Marvelous and Uncanny Endeavors. Only the marvelous can attend. It is an honor to be chosen by the Heads of the Arcanum, and this invitation means that you demonstrate what it takes to join us. But remember, only your work will guarantee that you can earn the proper degrees to stay with us.
 Once your starpost arrives in the Stariary, you will receive a message noting the coordinates of the Level Ones’ Stardust Pier and the Institute’s location this year.
 All the light to you and yours! Good marvelling!
 
 Laura RubyExecutive Assistant to Headmarveller MacDonald andHeadmarveller Rivera of the Lower School
 
 P.S.: No Fewels allowed! If you share this letter with a non-Marveller, it shall disintegrate into dust. Don’t test it. You will regret it.
 PART I
 A BRAND-NEW WORLD
 
 
 CHAPTER ONE
 THE LUCK ROOT
 
 Marvelous.
 The lucky kids got called that. Praise like honey drizzled on hot biscuits. But Ella’s family didn’t believe in gassing you up. Clothes ironed? Make your bed? Clean your plate? And most importantly, did you mind your business so nobody was minding you?
 Even now, during the greatest . . . the awesome-est . . . the most spectacular thing that had ever happened in all eleven years of Ella Durand’s life, her parents were squabbling and telling her what to do.
 “Did you use the hangers? Gran pressed those mantles herself after the old iron did a poor job,” her mama said. “I don’t want to see them wrinkled.”
 Three juju-trunks floated in the middle of the Durands’ living room with all of Ella’s things neatly arranged and ready for inspection. Their silk linings glowed as a good-fortune spell infused itself into her belongings.
 “Yes, Mama,” Ella replied, annoyed.
 “The conjure-cameo?” her papa asked.
 “Yes, Papa.” She patted her chest, the carved medallion of her parents’ faces tucked just beneath her shirt.
 “And the braid-hands?”
 Ella pointed at the vanity case, where a wax copy of her mother’s hands sat. “Of course.”
 Mama tugged one of Ella’s long twists. “I won’t have my baby so far away with her head looking a