About book Stuart Horten - Acht Münzen Und Eine Magische Werkstatt (2012)
What a fun book! It's for mystery-philes and juvenile fiction enjoyers. Horten is an engaging character. His dad uses sesquepedalian words, his best friend is a triplet, and he inherits a magic shop that he has to find using 40 year old clues. Could it get better?No swearing, not meanness, just lying to parents about where you've been and defying them if it's super important. The children take their punishments for these things, mind you. Stuart Horten, a diminutive 10 year old, has just moved with his family to the small English town of Beeton. He’s new to the town, but soon discovers that his family has a long, interesting, and even magical history in the area. On the Christmas Eve of 1940, Stuarts Great Uncle, Teeny Tiny Tony Horten, a popular magician and genius creator of magical contraptions, vanishes into thin air, and never returns. But, the night before, Tony left one of his most popular sellers, a cylindrical magic money box, to Stuarts Father as a parting gift. From that point on, the box was used merely for storing paper clips, until Stuart investigates it further, and finds some old coins and a message in its secret compartment."I have to go away, and I may not be able to get back. If I don't return, then my workshop and all it contains is yours if you can find it - and if you can find it, then you're the right sort of boy to have it."From here, Stuart is set on an adventure to claim his Great Uncles long lost magical workshop, by following a series of crafty clues. However, Stuart can’t do it alone, and is forced to accept the support of his nosy, condescending, clever neighbors, the Kingly triplets, who go by the names April, May and June. April becomes an important ally to Stuart, even if he doesn’t want to admit as much. Naturally, Stuart is not the only one looking for the mysterious workshop, and will have to outwit the stories villains, Jeannie, an owner of a local magic school, and her bumbling student/sidekick, Clifford. This will be a summer to remember for Stuart, as he hopes to find the magic workshop, and above all, uncover the circumstances of his Great Uncles mysterious disappearance. I thought this was an intelligently written mystery book for early teens, and enjoyed following Stuart on this clue by clue adventure. It might seem a little on the short side (not unlike stuart himself, I suppose), and offered very little in the way of real character development, but for the intended age group, its fast paced action is more than enough to keep the pages turning. Small Change for Stuart has been shortlisted for the 2011 Costa Award for Childrens Fiction, the 2012 Carnegie Medal, and the 2012 Branford Boase Award.
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My son and I read this together. Very clever, and very funny.
—JuicyJ22
