Flora Segunda

FLORA SEGUNDA by Ysabeau S. Wilce
Category: Paranormal
Age Recommendation: Grades 6+
Release Date: 11/06
Publisher: Harcourt
Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman
Rating: 4 Stars

Flora Fydraaca's Catorcena is coming up and she hasn't finished her dress or her speech. The main problem with the speech
is that it's supposed to celebrate everything great and glorious about her family, the Fyrdraaca's, and her home, Crackpot
Hall, and it all has to be true. Unfortunately, Flora doesn't find either of these things to be particularly great or glorious.
Maybe they were once, but not since Flora can remember.

Once her father was a great champion fighter and rider. Now he just hides up in his rooms, and occasionally has fits of
insanity. He went crazy years ago during the war, when he tried, and failed, to rescue the first Flora from abductors. Flora's
mother is the Warlord's Commanding General, so she seems pretty glorious, but she's hardly ever home. Flora's sister
Idden is a general in an elite part of the army, but Flora's not interested in that. Even though it's what she's expected to do
after school.

Crackpot Hall sounds like it was unbelievable before Flora was born, but then her mother banished the magickal Butler. Ever
since then the windows leak, the garden has become a jungle, stairways forget to finish, hallways end in nothing, etc. There
are 11,000 rooms in Crackpot Hall, but Flora and her family can only get to a few of them. Those few rooms stay only as
clean as Flora can manage between school, her father's outbursts, and taking care of the dogs.

One day, already running late for school, Flora has to run back inside to get a well-overdue library book. Knowing the risk,
she takes a chance and takes the elevator. She ends up in a part of the house she never even knew existed. A place that
contains a million books and what's left of the now very bitter, banished Butler. He's literally wasting away to nothing.

He thinks Flora can help him. Maybe she can. Maybe the more important question is should she help him? Regardless, a
chain of events is set in motion that will alter Flora, the Fyrdraaca family, and possibly Crackpot Hall, completely.

A magical adventure with a host of peculiar characters, most of which are well-developed and extremely entertaining. Flora's
life is exciting, eventful, and sometimes dangerous. Help comes in strange ways from the most unexpected places, and
learning to be herself may be the hardest and most important thing Flora has ever done.