Kingston and the Magician's Lost and Found

(Hardback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Magic has all but disappeared in Brooklyn, but one tenacious young magician is determined to bring it back in this exciting middle grade mystery. Magic has all but disappeared in Brooklyn, but one tenacious young magician is determined to bring it back in this exciting middle grade mystery. Twelve-year-old Kingston has just moved from the suburbs back to Echo City, Brooklyn-the last place his father was seen alive. Kingston's father was King Preston, one of the world's greatest magicians. Until one trick went wrong and he disappeared. Now that Kingston is back in Echo City, he's determined to find his father. Somehow, though, when his father disappeared, he took all of Echo City's magic with him. Now Echo City-a ghost of its past-is living up to its name. With no magic left, the magicians have packed up and left town and those who've stayed behind don't look too kindly on any who reminds them of what they once had. When Kingston finds a magic box his father left behind as a clue, Kingston knows there's more to his father's disappearance than meets the eye. He'll have to keep it a secret-that is, until he can restore magic to Echo City. With his cousin Veronica and childhood friend Too Tall Eddie, Kingston works to solve the clues, but one wrong move and his father might not be the only one who goes missing.

Reviews

Praise for Kingston and the Magician's Lost and Found:
A 2022-2023 Camellia Childrens Choice Book Award Nominee (AL)

A fast-paced, magical read set in an accessible, vibrant world where Black magicians and a mainly Black cast take center stage. Publishers Weekly, starred review

Intricately crafted twists at every turn keep the determined crew on their toes. The action is well paced, giving readers time to savor the myriad colorful characters who interact with the clue chasers. . . An enjoyable addition to most middle school mystery collections. School Library Journal

Full of heart, magic, and mystery, this is the kind of book that makes you love books. Absolutely fantastic! Sarah Beth Durst, award-winning author of Catalyst

"Coded messages, characters who plainly know more than they're saying, doppelgangers, and secret schemes...all come together in a...breathlessly paced tale...should leave readers even more delighted that the stage is set for sequels."Booklist

Inventive, authentic, and razor-sharp, Kingston and the Magicians Lost and Found is at once an exhilarating fantasy and a moving tale of how far a father and son are willing to go for one another. Rucker Moses and Theo Gangi put aside familiar tropes to build something new, an underground New York City, filled with magic and secrets, that challenges readers to solve its mysteries alongside its main character. As for Kingston, weve never seen anything like hima young Black superhero determined to put the magic back in Brooklyn. Hes sharp, feisty, funny, and always a step ahead. This is a special book, the kind that you fall in love with, because beneath the fun and twists, shining through is Kingstons big, bold heart. Soman Chainani, New York Times bestselling author of The School for Good and Evil series

"This brisk first-person narrative will appeal especially to readers who like puzzles and illusions engaging plot and history of Black magician....A likable, otherworldly adventure with a bit of a mystery." Kirkus Reviews

The text is zippy and animated, reading more like a screenplay than a novel, and the secondary characters are splashy . . . Kingston is a carefully balanced mix of optimistic, jaded, and grief-stricken, moving through the world with more hope than the grownups who surround him. The Bulletin of the Center for Childrens Books

Author Bio

Theo Gangi is a novelist and writing teacher based in Brooklyn. He's written several acclaimed novels and short stories, and he's worked on shows for Netflix. He writes far-out adventures that happen right next door. He directs the MFA program at St. Francis College and lives with his wife, young son, and their dog. Kingston and the Magician's Lost and Found is his first book for young readers.