Did you know that we just celebrated International Magic Week? At the library we had a display of our books on famous magicians (Harry Houdini, Adelaide Herrmann, Harry Keller, Sid Fleischman), books on how to perform magic tricks (J 793.8), and middle grade fiction featuring magicians and kids learning how to be magicians (the rabbit-producing kind of magic, not Harry Potter magic).
Because there were several fun and exciting titles, it seemed like a perfect opportunity for a Five Books Featuring… book post! So, here you go: Five Books Featuring…Magicians! Just know they’re the performing kind, not the fantasy wizard-y magic-making type of magic.
Our Five Books Featuring are five books related by topic–One Old, One New, One Popular with Kids, One Well-Reviewed, and One Favorite of library staff–but you’ll have to guess which is which! Each book has a short synopsis and link to the book in the catalog, so you can easily find and request it.
Read on!
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AbrakaPOW by Isaiah Campbell
Try as she might, cheeky middle schooler Maxine Larousse (aka The Amazing Max) has yet to learn the one magic trick she needs the most: how to reappear in New York City. That is where she used to live with her parents before her father, Major Larousse, was put in charge of a Nazi POW camp in Abilene, Texas. At least in this desolate wasteland she’ll have plenty of time to practice her illusions, even if the only audience member is her ferret Houdini.
When she’s tasked with entertaining the Nazi prisoners with a magic show, the pressure may be too much. But with the help of some classmates and an unexpected magic expert, the performance is a hit–until twelve Nazi prisoners escape during her final act. Will Max be able to track them down before her reputation as a magician is destroyed forever?
Based on a true story of a prisoner escape during WWII.
The Magic Trap by Jacqueline Davies
A magic show, card tricks, and a disappearing rabbit named Professor Hoffman—Jess and Evan Treski are at it again as they try to put on a professional magic show in their own backyard. They practice, they study, and they practice some more. But will they be able to put on the show? Maybe not! With the show date coming up, so is an approaching hurricane. But nothing prepares them for what blows into town next… Their father, who has done a good job of disappearing over the past few years.
Jessie and Evan have waged a lemonade war, sought justice in a class trial, unmasked a bell thief, and stood at opposite ends over the right to keep secrets. Now they take on the challenges of magic and illusion all while discovering some hidden truths about their own family. The fourth book the the Lemonade War series, this can be read as a stand-alone…but read the whole series!
The Vanishing Coin by Kate Egan
Want to see something cool? I can make that quarter vanish. All it takes is a little magic…
Fourth grade was supposed to be a fresh start, but Mike’s already back in the principal’s office. He’s not a bad kid. He just can’t sit still. And now, his parents won’t let him play soccer anymore; instead he has to hang out with his new neighbor Nora, who is good at everything!
Then Mike and Nora discover the White Rabbit. It’s an odd shop–with a special secret inside. Its owner, Mr. Zerlin, is a magician, and, amazingly, he believes Mike could be a magician, too. Has Mike finally found something he’s good at? The first in a fun series…with an afterword that lets you learn some of the same tricks Mike performs!
Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms by Lissa Evans
Enter a wonderful world filled with magic, mystery, and danger.
As if being small and having S. Horten as his name isn’t bad enough, now 10-year-old Stuart is forced to move far away from all his friends. But on his very first day in his new home, Stuart’s swept up in an extraordinary adventure: the quest to find his great-uncle Tony–a famous magician who literally disappeared off the face of the earth–and Tony’s marvelous, long-lost workshop. Along the way, Stuart reluctantly accepts help from the annoying triplets next door… and encounters trouble from another magician who’s also desperate to get hold of Tony’s treasures. Who will find the workshop–and the valuable secrets within–first?
Mr Mysterious and Company by Sid Fleischman
A magic show is in town! See Jane float through the air. Watch the head in the box move its lips and talk (that’s Paul behind the whiskers). See tall, light-hearted Mr. Mysterious–Pa himself–make a cow lay an egg and a chicken give milk. Follow the adventures and high comedy of this family of magicians traveling in a show wagon through the Old West. The wonder workers are heading for California, where Pa intends to retire the show so that the kids can go to school. But the frontier has tricks of its own up its sleeve, and the magicians find themselves in hairbreadth escapes and nose-to-nose encounters with villains galore. Mr. Mysterious & Company (otherwise known as the Hackett family) is a traveling magic show making its way across the country toward California. When this family passes through town in their brightly painted wagon, anything can happen–even the capture of a notorious bandit, the Badlands Kid!
The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris
When street magician Carter runs away from his uncle, he never expects to find friends and magic in a sleepy New England town. But like any good trick, things change instantly as greedy B.B. Bosso and his crew of crooked carnies arrive to steal anything and everything they can get their sticky fingers on.
After a fateful encounter with the local purveyor of illusion, Dante Vernon, Carter teams up with five other like-minded illusionists. Together, using both teamwork and magic, they’ll set out to save the town of Mineral Wells from Bosso’s villainous clutches. These six Magic Misfits will soon discover adventure, friendship, and their own self-worth through some tricky situations. Magic Misfits: The Second Story has just been released, and there are four titles projected for this series.
(Psst. Hey, you! Yes, you! Congratulations on reading this far. As a reward, I’ll let you in on a little secret… This book isn’t just a book. It’s a treasure trove of secrets and ciphers and codes and even tricks. Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll discover more than just a story–you’ll learn how to make your own magic!)
Nothing Up My Sleeve by Diana Lopez
When sixth-grade best friends Loop, Dominic, and Z stumble on a new magic store in town, they quickly decide to become amateur magicians and participate in a competition held by the Texas Association of Magicians. They can’t wait to spend their summer mastering cool tricks to gain access to the Vault, a key holders-only back room bound to hold all kinds of secrets. They work on their card tricks, sleights, and vanishing acts, trying to come up with the most awesome routines possible….Problem is, the trip is expensive, and it’s money that each guy’s family just doesn’t have. To make things worse, the shop-owners’ daughter, Ariel (who just so happens to be last year’s competition winner), will do anything to make sure the boys don’t come out on top. Even pit them against one another. Will these friends make it to the competition? And if so, at what cost?
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Oh dear. My list of five has magically expanded. Well, all the better for reading! 🙂
If you would like any other books about magicians, magic or anything else, ask one of our librarians for help. We always like matching books and readers! Until then…
Happy Reading!
::Kelly::
Carrick, Carol. 
In this book, Princess Emma, an aspiring witch from the kingdom of Greater Greensward, is persuaded into kissing a frog who claims to be Prince Eadric of Upper Montevista.
Ghosts is about a girl who moves to Southern California because her sister needs to be more healthy. The girl’s name is Cat and her sister’s name is Maya. Maya has a hard time breathing. When the two sisters meet ghosts, they swarm around Maya and she had to go to the hospital. She stays in the hospital for a while but then gets better. She has always loved ghosts and Cat introduces a nice and friendly ghost and they play together!! Although Maya has a hard time breathing they have a lot of fun together! I like this book because the author keeps me interested!
Oz and Lily Spoffard grew up in a tiny house in Washford Common in London. Even though the family was cramped, they loved it. But with a new baby on the way, the twins know that they will have even less space. But that’s when an unexpected letter from a solicitor in London comes… Their father has apparently inherited a mysterious large house on Skittle Street from his great-uncle on the other side of London. The solution to all their problems? Maybe…
The audio for 
Will Shackley is the son of a lord, and though just thirteen, he’s led a charmed, protected life as heir to Shackley House. While his father is away on the Third Crusade with King Richard the Lionheart, the winds of treason sweep across England. Shackley House becomes caught up in a dangerous power struggle when King Richard’s brother John tries to take the throne and sends his representative to take Will into custody. 
Robin is an apprentice forester in the woods of Nottingham. The arrows he makes and sells earn barely enough extra coin to retain the title to his father’s small lands. The sheriff of Nottingham’s jealousy toward Robin’s father is just as fierce towards his son, and the sheriff’s men take every opportunity to harass the young woodsman. When Robin defends himself and accidentally kills one of the sheriff’s men, he flees to Sherwood Forest, knowing that he has not only lost his father’s land and good name forever, but that he will live the rest of his days as a hunted man.
Robin has a bad habit of getting into trouble–and a better habit of getting out of it (barely). He lives on an isolated outpost in the middle of nowhere and has no idea why his parents disappeared years ago. Then a strange delivery arrives at his doorstep.
Emma is lost at sea in a terrible storm. She awakens on a desolate island, frightened and lonely. Yet brave, quick-witted Emma will not be alone for long, as the ghost of a bellboy appears with the tragic tale.
