Smoke & Mirrors

Gr 4-6–Gr 4-6–Debut novelist Ransaw and nearly-500-credits audiobook veteran Fouhey prove to be an auspicious pairing, enlivening 12-year-old Andy through a “ruined” summer that thankfully isn’t. With his dad in prison, Andy’s stuck living with Aunt Nonie. As the only Black kid in town, he’s easily (and wrongfully) blamed for burning down Mr. Gilbert’s barn. The mean old man offers Andy a deal: “Cleaning up some old mansion was better than juvie,” Andy admits. Known as “the murder house,” it once belonged to the magician, Red Nave, who, at his final performance, killed a man and vanished. “How hard could it be to find a magician?” Andy rashly thinks and wagers a bet: if he can solve the crime, Mr. Gilbert promises to release Andy from months of hard labor. Fouhey adroitly voices the angry tween and distrustful grump, bullies and bad cops, nurturing Aunt Nonie, and unreliable witnesses.