From the author of the bestselling Secret Series comes this funny chapter-book mystery about a third-grade magician and the wisecracking rabbit who is the secret brains behind his act.Eight-year-old Oliver dreams of being a professional magician, even though he has terrible stage fright. And now, his friends Teenie and Bea have gotten him invited to a classmate's birthday party as the paid entertainment! Desperate for help, he visits The Great Zoocheeni's Magic Emporium, but comes away with nothing more than a moth-eaten top hat.
Oliver is in for a lucky surprise, though. Inside that top hat hides a wisecracking rabbit named Benny, who agrees to help Oliver with his act. But at the party, Oliver is accused of robbery! He'll need to solve the mystery of the missing robo-cat to clear his name before he and Benny can amaze the crowd with their grand finale.
On sale: May 14, 2019
Age: 7-9 years
Grade: Grades 2-4
Page count: 192 Pages
ISBN: 9780525552321
Reading level: Lexile: 590L | Fountas/Pinnell: Q
Pseudonymous Bosch is the infamously anonymous author of the
New York Times bestselling Secret Series and the Bad Books. Despite rumors to the contrary, his books are not actually written by his pet rabbit, Quiche. Nor is he the alter ego of Raphael Simon, a totally unrelated author who lives in Pasadena, CA, with his husband and twin daughters.
Shane Pangburn grew up in rural Illinois and now lives in Los Angeles, where he writes whenever he's not drawing, taking photos, watching TV, or otherwise working. He produces YALLWEST, the nation's largest Youth and Young Adult literary festival. His cartoons and illustrations have appeared in The Daily Dot, numerous college textbooks, and how-to guides. He worked as a children's bookseller and textbook illustrator before switching to literary promotion, assisting other authors on their book campaigns.
"The author pulls out a late twist, slips in line drawings (some partly in color) on almost every page, and, for a final flourish, closes with a description of the trickand suggestions for patter. No abracadabra needed to make this disappear from the shelves." —
Booklist
"[A] raucous series opener . . . Portrayed in Pangburn's peppy cartoons, unremitting slapstick scenarios augment the comedy, as do puns, miscommunications, and Bosch's cheeky, meddling narration." —
Publisher's Weekly "With a talking rabbit on the lam, this amusing story of friendship, failure, and success (and an erupting candy volcano) neatly slips in vocabulary along the way. Readers shouldn't have so much ridiculous fun with a book as they do with this one." —
Kirkus Review