March 5, 2012
Evans borrows several classic tropes and themes—magic, riddles, a quest, and even a night at a museum—for the entertaining story of 10-year-old Stuart Horten (often nicknamed “Shorten” for his small stature) who stumbles into a family mystery when he and his parents move to the small British town of Beeton. There, Stuart discovers that his Great-Uncle Tony Horten, who disappeared years ago without a trace, was both an inventor of mechanical devices and a magician. A chance phone call in a broken phone booth is the first step in a journey that leads Stuart around town, as he unearths his great-uncle’s legacy and secrets. Stuart also draws the attention of April, May, and June (the journalistically inclined triplets next door), as well as Beeton residents with more sinister intentions. Evans has crafted an old-fashioned mystery of the kids-besting-clueless-adults variety. Stuart’s dweeby parents are particularly hapless (his father, a crossword puzzle creator, regularly drops lines like “Behold, I bring hydration for your powwow”). First published in the U.K., Evans’s story leaves the door open for the sequel due in September. Ages 8–12.
Starred review from March 15, 2012
Wacky, funny and ever so mysterious, this clever tale hits the ground running and never lets up. Very short 10-year-old Stuart Horten--S. Horten, get it?--thinks he's facing a long, boring summer when his parents pack the three of them up and move to his father's hometown as school lets out. His parents are a pleasantly oblivious pair: His mom is an unimaginative doctor, and his father designs crosswords for a living. (He joyfully tosses around hundred-dollar words like "prestidigitator" and "perambulation.") Stuart quickly discovers the long-abandoned home of his great uncle Teeny-Tiny Tony Horton, a famous magician who disappeared 50 years before, and the puzzle box left to his incurious father. Resourceful Stuart wants to learn more, but he's plagued by the girl next door, who's intently following him everywhere. Just as a fabulous clue appears in a vandalized phone booth, the prying girl, April, shows up, and it turns out she's identical twins--oh, no! triplets--April, May and June. And they're shortly followed by the villainous, entrepreneurial Jeannie, hot on Stuart's heels. The pace is rapid, the clues to Tony's disappearance are intriguing and the characters are vividly--often hilariously--drawn. Irony runs hand in hand with just enough believable danger to create palpable tension. A vastly engaging, must-read mystery infused with the perfect touch of captivating conjuration--er, magic. (Mystery. 9-14)
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May 1, 2012
Gr 4-6-Ten-year-old Stuart is unhappy about moving to a new town with his academic parents, especially the small British town of Beeton where his father grew up. But when he discovers a challenge in a note from the legendary Tony Horten, his magician great-uncle who disappeared years earlier, to find his hidden workshop of "miraculous mechanisms," the summer becomes an adventure. By finding Tony's hidden clues and following them on a sort of scavenger hunt to the past, Stuart dodges the nosy triplets next door, makes a friend, helps two sisters reunite, outwits a greedy villain, gets out of some dangerous scrapes, and inherits a magical legacy. Fans of mysteries, puzzles, and Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society (Little, Brown, 2007) will be happy to make Stuart's acquaintance, and they will look forward to the promised sequel.-Laurie Slagenwhite Walters, Peachtree Montessori International, Ann Arbor, MI
Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 1, 2012
Grades 4-7 Stuart Horten, 10, is sure he is in for the dullest summer ever when he moves with his working-all-the-time mom and dork-supreme dad, who is excited to return to the town he grew up in. Stuart's lack of enthusiasm is compounded by a set of nosy triplet girls next door, but things start looking up when he learns about how his great-uncle Tonywho was a magician of some renown and an inventor of fabulous contraptionsdisappeared years ago. And then things get downright exciting when he discovers a handful of old coins that unlock a series of clues scattered about town that promise to reveal the location of Tony's long-hidden workshop. Stuart is a likable, plucky little guy, the Charlie Bucket to great-uncle Tony's Willy Wonka. While the mystery is tempered by the fact that solutions to the clues often come about more by happenstance than any cunning on Stuart's part, the elements of magical realism that waft through the narrative keep things humming along nicely. This British import, longlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, leaves the door ajar for more adventures.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2012
For those who like their mysteries of the little gray cell variety, with logical puzzles, codes, crossword clues, maps, and conundrums, this story of a magician's great-nephew is a treat. Ten-year-old Stuart Horten must locate a long-lost conjurer's workshop in the small town where he lives. He has some adventures, but mostly he does research and thinks--an Encyclopedia Brown for our time.
(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
July 1, 2012
For those who like their mysteries of the little gray cell variety, with logical puzzles, codes, crossword clues, maps, and conundrums, this story of a magician's great-nephew is a treat. It falls to ten-year-old Stuart Horten to locate a long-lost conjurer's workshop in the small town where he lives. His parents are pleasantly daft and don't get in the way; he has a sparky relationship with his female sidekick; the clues are laid out clearly, except for toothsome red herrings; the bad guys (and gals) are half-bumbling, half-malevolent; the mechanisms are intriguing; and there is even a set of triplets on hand when identity confusion is required by the plot. Stuart hides out in a museum, braves several dark, scary places, and gets a couple of bumps on the head, but mostly he does research and thinks -- an Encyclopedia Brown for our time. The whole thing is reliably funny, and there is no angst. What more could an early middle-grader want? sarah ellis
(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)