Horten's miraculous mechanisms : magic, mystery & a very strange adventure

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Title:

Horten's miraculous mechanisms : magic, mystery & a very strange adventure

Added Title:

Small change for Stuart

Author:

Evans, Lissa, author.

Summary:

Moving away from everything familiar to live in a new house, ten-year-old Stuart Horten reluctantly befriends the annoying triplets next door and is swept up in a magical quest to find his great-uncle Tony, a famous magician who disappeared along with his fantastical workshop.

General Note:

Originally published: Small change for Stuart. London : Doubleday, 2011.

Map on lining papers.

Physical Description:

270 p. : ill., map ; 19 cm.

Genre:

Action and adventure fiction.

Fantasy fiction.

Subject Term:

Magic -- Fiction.

Missing persons -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Sterling Children's Books,

Publication Date:

2012

2011

ISBN:

9781402798061

Publication Information:

New York : Sterling Children's Books, 2012.

Call Number:

J EVANS

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607002724733	Juvenile Fiction	EVANS	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Enter a wonderful world filled with real 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.nbsp;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.
A quirky, smart, charming page-turner, Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms will enchant young readers--as well as teachers, librarians, and parents. nbsp; nbsp; Long-listed for the Carnegie Medal (2012) and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (2011)

Author Notes

Lissa Evans's route to children's fiction author is perhaps as roundabout as Stuart's adventures in Beeton. After a brief career as a doctor of medicine and then in stand-up comedy, Lissa became a comedy producer, first in radio and then in television, before turning to writing. She has penned books for adults as well as picture books for children. This is her first middle-grade novel. Lissa lives with her family in North London.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

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 (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

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. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.