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Library | Material Type | Item Barcode | Shelf Number | Status |
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Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library | Juvenile Fiction Book Hardback | 120791002760130 | J BOS | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
From the author of the bestselling Secret Series comes this funny chapter-book mystery about a third-grade magician and the wisecracking rabbit who is the secret brains behind his act.
Eight-year-old Oliver dreams of being a professional magician, even though he has terrible stage fright. And now, his friends Teenie and Bea have gotten him invited to a classmate's birthday party as the paid entertainment! Desperate for help, he visits The Great Zoocheeni's Magic Emporium, but comes away with nothing more than a moth-eaten top hat.
Oliver is in for a lucky surprise, though. Inside that top hat hides a wisecracking rabbit named Benny, who agrees to help Oliver with his act. But at the party, Oliver is accused of robbery! He'll need to solve the mystery of the missing robo-cat to clear his name before he and Benny can amaze the crowd with their grand finale.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Unabashedly clueless Oliver is ill suited for two roles that Bosch (the Secret Series) slyly gives him in this raucous series opener. The first is magician, which he botches from the get-go, attempting a card trick using an incomplete deck borrowed from his cousin, who assures him, "You don't need a full deck for most tricks. You'll see, magic is easy." (Or not.) After his friends, twins Bea and Teenie, discover that Oliver is the only third grader not invited to the birthday party of the richest kid at Nowonder Elementary, they manage to book him as entertainment. Flustered, he hies to a magic shop, where he picks up a mangy top hat that's home to a wisecracking rabbit, Benny. The bunny helps Oliver in his second mismatched role, that of investigator ("Hey, Benny? How do you investigate?" he asks) of the theft of the birthday boy's prized present. Portrayed in Pangburn's peppy cartoons, unremitting slapstick scenarios augment the comedy, as do puns, miscommunications, and Bosch's cheeky, meddling narration. Oliver finally redeems himself with a sleight of hand (masterminded by the rabbit underneath his hat and detailed at story's end for aspiring magicians) that wows the partygoers. Ages 7-9. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
The author most recently of the Bad series (Bad Magic, 2014, etc.) returns with a new series opener for somewhat younger children.It's clear he loses none of his comedic touch with this shift in audience. The narrator invites readers to the story of 8-year-old generous-spirited Oliver, a Jewish boy and a beginning magician. He hasn't yet developed the confidence to pull off the card trick he's rehearsing in front of twin friends Beatriz, or Bea, who loves games involving math and science, and Martina, or Teenie, who loves running and acrobatics. As encouraging as they are truthful about Oliver's skills, the twins do Oliver a favor and get him invited to 9-year-old classmate Maddox's birthday party, who invited everyone in third grade but Oliver. Oliver's debut flopsand becomes a diversion for someone stealing the robot cat Bea and Teenie give to the tantrum-throwing birthday boy, who accuses Bea, Teenie, and Oliver of stealing said gift. The robustly multicultural castBea and Teenie are Mexican-American and have two dads; Maddox's gal pal Memphis builds architectural models; and Jayden, who's drawn as black, is a tech whizis introduced naturally. With a talking rabbit on the lam, this amusing story of friendship, failure, and success (and an erupting candy volcano) neatly slips in vocabulary along the way.Readers shouldn't have so much ridiculous fun with a book as they do with this one. (Fiction. 8-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Bosch raises the curtain on a new series, which features a third-grader with a yen to be a magician, who uncovers a mystery alongside his first paid gig. Despite some quick instruction from Benny, a wisecracking rabbit living in a magic shop's old top hat, Oliver's inexpert debut before his classmates seems headed for disaster until rich and thoroughly spoiled Maddox accuses Benny of stealing his birthday present, a robotic kitty. With just 13 minutes until Maddox's mom calls their parents, Oliver and his friends split up to interview suspects and gather clues. Ultimately, a simple card trick provides both the insight that allows Oliver to put the bits together and the pretext for a dramatic denouement that he delivers from the stage to enthusiastic applause. The author pulls out a late twist, slips in line drawings (some partly in color) on almost every page, and, for a final flourish, closes with a description of the trick and suggestions for patter. No abracadabra needed to make this disappear from the shelves.--John Peters Copyright 2019 Booklist