Only Absolute Misfits Would Think Up Such an Outrageous Scheme

~The Magic Misfits~
Book 1
Written by Neil Patrick Harris
Illustrated by Lissy Marlin & Kyle Hinton
Amazon ~ Powell's

When street magician Carter runs away, he never expects to find friends and magic in a sleepy New England town. But like any good trick, things change instantly as greedy B.B. Bosso and his crew of crooked carnies arrive to steal anything and everything they can get their sticky fingers on.

After a fateful encounter with the local purveyor of illusion, Dante Vernon, Carter teams up with five other like-minded illusionists. Together, using both teamwork and magic, they'll set out to save the town of Mineral Wells from Bosso's villainous clutches. These six Magic Misfits will soon discover adventure, friendship, and their own self-worth in this delightful new series.

A great read filled with awe, humor, and (most importantly) magic. If one isn't familiar with the author (where have you been? under a rock?), this will no doubt endear them to his charm and talents. As Neil is very outspoken of his love of magic, music, and his non-nuclear family, it was great seeing small (and not so small) winks and nods to various passions of his.

The characters were all a pleasure to meet and follow. Carter's beginnings reminded me a bit of other orphan stories, but once he finds a posse his story quickly becomes its own. All of the misfits were wonderful, each stealing the show at different times. I think Olly and Izzy were my favorites, but only because they made the most of what little time they had, comparatively speaking. Ridley was the standout for me, before the twins made their entrance, being the most down to earth and cynical of the group. As she says, Theo and Leila see the good in people, so its up to her to make sure they don't get hurt. But, again, all the kids were stand-outs in their own right.

It was nice to have a story where the kids are smart, but not to the detriment of the adults. Sure, most of the victims of the pick-pocketing Pock-Pickets barbershop quartet (yeah, that's a thing) seem a bit slow in comparison to the kids, but they didn't come off as stupid, more just innocent and unsuspecting. It's one of those 'you won't see it coming until you've been a victim of it' things. And I've had more than enough victim blaming, thank you very much.

While I'd recommend this as a fun read (and I'll be continuing the series), it is definitely written for younger readers. Not only are the characters young, but there are a few breaks in the story to give magic trick lessons, as well as a few vocabulary lessons at the beginning:

The word nick, while usually a man’s name, can also mean steal. (p. 15)

You see, Ms. Zalewski made a mean grilled cheese and radish. Mean is usually bad, but in this circumstance, it means extremely delicious. (p. 23)

I don't know how necessary the vocabulary would be for kids these days, but I found it a bit much, especially for words/phrases not used constantly in the rest of the story. Still, I think it only happened maybe 4 or 5 times, and only in the first couple chapters, so not a huge deal breaker.

I also don't know how to classify this genre-wise. While one would think that magic automatically equals fantasy, this magic is more sleight of hand and illusionary, rather than actual wand-waving. Or, at least, it seems that way at the moment. So, is it realistic fiction? What if there proves to be actual fantasy down the line? And there's no time frame given, other than trains and traveling circuses...so is it historical? I think I'll just leave it at Young Reader for now and decide after another book or two what genre to assign.

The Magic Misfits will definitely be added to my book gifting list for kids. It was a lot of fun, intriguing, it had adorable characters, and was full to bursting with magic. The illustrations are great, too - I wouldn't mind a mini-series with the Misfits, especially if they keep that illustrator. Heartwarming without being too sappy, smart without being too technical, and detailed without being too wordy, share the magic with some misfits you know!