Quinn generally performs magic with his best friend Perry and even though it seems clear that Quinn is the mastermind behind the magic, Perry is the outgoing crowd-pleaser who always gets everything right. Quinn generally doesn't feel jealous or resentful of Perry but it's clear throughout the book that Quinn feels like he's a second class person, especially next to his best friend. As the camp audition rules arrive, the wording seems to suggest that they are looking for SOLO performers rather than group acts like the friends have. Quinn is both excited and a little sad about splitting up to try out. At about this same time, the boys meet a girl that recently moved into town who also has a passion for magic. Watching her tricks, they are quickly in awe of her talent and it's clear that she could be their main competition in the camp tryout. Add to this that Quinn has an immediate crush on her and things are really starting to get complicated for this competition.
The book is filled with a lot of Quinn's inner monologues as he tries to work through his emotions and struggles with his feelings of inadequacies and doubt. His parents are supportive but they are super quirky and hyper involved in their performance project. And with Quinn's friend and hopefully-girlfriend as his main competition, Quinn is left to try and figure out the path forward on his own.
Through a strange twist of fate, Quinn stumbles across a man that he hopes can help. From his early childhood, Quinn idolized the magician known as the Dazzling Lazlo and he has fond memories of an amazing closing act that Lazlo did. One evening, Quinn meets a man in a diner and is sure that he is the now washed-up Lazlo masquerading as a down-on-his luck man named Bob. Quinn attaches himself to Bob and pressures him into teaching him the mystical trick. I was expecting some sort of Karate Kid moment with Mr. Miyagi teaching Daniel-san how to paint the fence or wash the car. I won't spoil their interactions but let's just say that things get even more complicated the longer the two work together.
I didn't have any specific expectations when I picked up this book other than it being a teenage book about wannabe magicians. I was pleasantly surprised to find a book with some meat to the plot and some interesting character development and pacing. The author did a good job of portraying the world from the point of view of a teenager. It had some of the gritty language and situations that teenagers face without being either too cheesy or too obscene. It felt like a realistic balance. I also loved the insights we had into Quinn's thought process. Getting into magic camp is the spoken plot device but the story is really about Quinn trying to figure out his identity and his place in the world especially as it relates to his friends, family, community and hobbies. He struggles with legitimate insecurities and works through them with the impulsiveness and confusion that a teenager (or any human) has when faced with similar troubles. Quinn's parents felt a bit like caricatures, though they did also have some moments of substance and they worked well for the part they played in the story.
My biggest struggles with the story were the interactions between Quinn and Bob/Lazlo and the use and descriptions of the magic tricks. Regarding the magic tricks I felt like it was a weird balance between being absolutely unbelievable and being rather mundane. The descriptions of the tricks was fine generally but it felt a little strained at moments. My bigger struggle was with the activities that happened with Bob/Lazlo and Quinn. Again, I don't want to spoil things but even with Quinn's seemingly hopeless situation I had a hard time believing that Quinn would go through with some of the things Bob asked him to do. It felt out of character and unrealistic (especially when our young looking/acting Quinn was in the bar scene). These scenes were fun and exciting and certainly gave Quinn more introspective memories but they felt rather strained to me.
Overall this was a fun book. The reading level and pacing would be solid for middle graders although parents may have some complaints about the language (again, it wasn't excessive and felt fairly realistic and equitable to the language I sometimes heard around the middle schools I've visited, but it is still pushing the PG-13 language realm). The plot is enjoyable and the wrap up makes sense even though the denouement and conclusion were a bit cheesy in my opinion.
Even if you're not a big magic fan, if you're looking for a fun book about teenage struggles with friendship and goals, you'll probably enjoy this.
3.5 out of 5 stars
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