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The first book in a new series from the beloved author of The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is a rip-roaring alternate history romp set in New York during the age of invention, starring the world’s most famous inventors—and its most forgotten.

It is 1883—the Age of Invention! A time when great men like Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Nicola Tesla, and George Eastman work to turn the country into a mechanical-electrical-industrial marvel: a land of limitless opportunity. The world famous Inventors Guild, headquartered in New York City, is a place where one great idea, a whole lot of hard work, and a little bit of luck can find you rubbing elbows with these gods of industry who will usher humanity into the bright promise of the future.

Unless, of course, you’re a woman.

Molly Pepper, daughter of brilliant but unknown inventor Cassandra Pepper, lives with her mother in New York. By day, they make ends meet running a lowly pickle shop; but by night, they dream of Cassandra shattering the glass ceiling of the Inventors Guild and taking her place among the most famous inventors in America. In an attempt to finagle a way into the 1883 World’s Fair and finally show these men what Cass can do, they break into the Inventors Guild headquarters—and discover a mysterious and dastardly plot to destroy New York. The evidence points to the involvement of one of the world’s most famous inventors, and now it’s up to Molly, Cassandra, and a poor shop hand named Emmett Lee to uncover the truth—even if no one will ever know it was they who did it.