The Magician's Bird

August 1, 2013
In this easy, breezy mystery, Laurie and Bud spend their summer planning a scavenger hunt, discovering a secret room and solving a missing person case. After saving their school by finding the solution to a puzzle left behind by eccentric founder Maria Tutweiler (The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck, 2012), Laurie and Bud, rising seventh-graders, are at school laying out the next hunt when they find a secret room kept by Maria Tutweiler. They have grand ideas about how to use it, but if villain Walker LeFranco has his way, they never will. He is still trying to shut down Tuckernuck Hall, this time by accusing Maria Tutweiler of having murdered Marchetti the Magician decades ago. Organized crime and an assumed identity come to light, but the young sleuths, aided by quirky Misti and former rival Calliope, will not be able to clear Maria Tutweiler's name unless they can make a little bird sing. Really: Marchetti left a mechanical bird in the room that can reveal the truth--if they can figure out how it works. Readers who have not met the characters before may find them a bit two-dimensional here, but their sassy repartee is spot-on and comical, providing the real magic in the story. As before, lists, notes, emails and articles add depth. Fans of the first book will be glad to rejoin this unlikely team of detectives. (Mystery. 8-12)

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December 1, 2013

Gr 4-7-In this follow-up to The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck (HarperCollins, 2012), seventh-graders Laurie Madison and Bud Wallace uncover a new mystery surrounding their school's founder. Once again, Tuckernuck Hall is in danger of shutting its doors, this time due to a local news article alleging Maria Tutweiler's involvement in the decades-old murder of Marchetti the Magician. Bud and Laurie are joined by their friend Misti and a questionable ally, Calliope Judkin, who is useful but might have ulterior motives. Can these middle schoolers save the founder's-and Tuckernuck Hall's-reputation, or will the Tuckernuck Clucker soon go the way of the dodo? Fairlie improves upon the pacing of the first book, creating a worthy sequel that can also function as a stand-alone novel. Lighthearted mystery and humor are sustained throughout. Like the earlier title, this one is told from Bud's and Laurie's third-person perspectives, switching back and forth sometimes on the same page. Bud, Laurie, Misti, and Calliope are more fully developed here, but the adult characters remain just as exaggerated and purposefully kooky, emphasizing the exasperation and embarrassment that tweens often feel about authority figures. Just the right sprinkling of notes, lists ("How to Keep Your Archnemesis from Noticing That Your Friend Has Just Fallen Through a Hole in the Floor"), emails, and illustrations break up the text and will keep reluctant readers engaged. Perfect for mystery fans looking for a healthy dose of adventure and fun.-Jessica Ko, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014
Tuckernuck Hall students Bud, Laurie, and friends (The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck) return to defend their founder from accusations of murder and reveal the truth about a vanished magician and his mechanical bird. Fairlie supplements her narrative with characters' notes, emails, texts, etc., a device which occasionally forces the tone but effectively displays the kids working through clues.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)