Review by Booklist Review
In Bosch's spin-off of the Secret Series, 12-year-old Clay has stopped believing in the magic tricks he used to practice with his brother, Max-Ernst, calling them fake cheese-wizardry. But Max-Ernst disappeared two years ago, and Clay has never stopped feeling abandoned. He is forced to confront the possibility that magic may be real when he is sent to a survival camp on a volcanic island full of oddities: strange campers, a swarm of bees guarding the borders, a disappearing teepee, and an abandoned library haunted by a girl's ghost. But even these things are not as they seem, as Clay discovers an elaborate stage production behind the mysteries, with his missing brother at its heart. Parallels with Shakespeare's Tempest, a play Clay performed in for school, are interesting but extraneous, and the story takes a bit too long to develop its mysteries. Still, Bosch's mix of slapstick silliness, sly authorial asides, and magical adventure will appeal to readers of Lemony Snicket and M. T. Anderson's Pals in Peril series.--Hutley, Krista Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Twelve-year-old Clay's misgivings about magic are tested in this enjoyable if overlong trilogy opener. Max-Ernest, from Bosch's bestselling Secret Series, has disappeared mysteriously. His younger brother Clay is left feeling stung and resentful, and he's as shocked as everyone else when the words "MAGIC SUCKS!" somehow-almost magically-migrate from his private journal to a classroom wall. This inexplicable graffiti mural gets Clay sent to Earth Ranch, a summer camp for "struggling youth" located on an island with an active volcano. Bosch's arch narrative voice carries over from his previous books, and that humor helps buoy a story that takes its time getting to the big revelations of its final chapters. From The Tempest and Lord of the Flies to shows like Gilligan's Island and Lost, cultural allusions abound as Clay tries to understand the island's many mysteries and meets his fellow campers. Gilbert's watercolors bring in additional humor, especially a scene of Clay's mother Skyping in to a family meeting. Ages 8-12. Author's agent: Sarah Burnes, the Gernert Company. Illustrator's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-7-Bosch here begins a humorous trilogy centered on Clay, a wiggly, almost-13-year-old boy whose older brother, Max Ernest, is a magician gone missing. The older boy has soured Clay's interest in sleight-of-hand and card tricks. When the soon-to-be teen is falsely accused of writing, "Magic Sucks" on a wall, Clay's psychologist parents arrange a summer stay at a volcanic island camp called Earth Ranch. Once at the cloud-shrouded island, he finds a quirky camp with odd counselors and kids, plus llamas and rules enforced by guard bees. With elements of Shakespeare's The Tempest sprinkled throughout the tale, Clay discovers a ghostly girl, an abandoned library, and an eccentric custodian. Curious questions continue to emerge until Clay finally uncovers the true, but not evil, nature of the camp. Narrator Joshua Swanson creates identifiable personalities for all the characters. The sound quality is excellent, but the commercial packaging will need reinforcing before circulation. A PDF of Gilbert Ford's illustrations can expand student engagement with this upbeat title that is likely to intrigue upper elementary and middle school readers.-Barbara Wysocki, formerly with Cora J. Belden Library, Rocky Hill, CT (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
After he's falsely accused of writing "magic sucks" on a school wall, budding graffiti artist Clay tries to unravel several weird--and possibly supernatural--mysteries at Earth Ranch, a summer camp for troubled youth on an isolated volcanic island. Humorous narration, well-placed footnotes, and allusions to The Tempest will hook fans of funny mystery and adventure stories. Full-page black-and-white illustrations are appropriately offbeat. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Very little is as it seems at a survival camp for "troubled" teens in this trilogy opener. Still deeply upset nearly two years after the disappearance of his stage-magician older brother, Clay writes "Magic sucks!" in a notebook after turning in a blank paper on Shakespeare's Tempest. He's astounded to find the sentiment painted on a wall at school the next daywith his signature. The resultant fallout lands him on a remote Pacific island, where he encounters peers named Leira (spell it backward) and Mira, a grotesque puppet dubbed "Caliban" and a llama with a sign on its neck reading "Hola. Cmo se llama? Yo me llamo Como C. Llama." He also discovers not one but two libraries of rare booksone stocked with oddly behaving grimoires. After climbing a live volcano and sliding back down on a board, he discovers (as he had been suspecting for some time) that it's all been a setupfurther developments to come. "Bosch," a confirmed Lemony Snicket bandwagoneer, repeatedly interrupts with authorial rants, pleas and footnotes. The Shakespearean parallels aren't particularly integral to the plot, and the twists, Como's sign apart, are more inscrutable than clever. The book comes complete with multiple appendices and Ford's illustrations (not seen for review). Clay is Everykid enough ("almost handsome, in a dried-snot-on-his-sleeve sort of way") to keep readers hanging around to see what happens to him next. (Fantasy. 12-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
