The Magician's Apprentice

With this cleverly plotted first novel about thievery and murder, Heneghan quickly draws readers into the grimy, hardscrabble world of urban 19th-century England, when the “air was thick with the pungent stink of sweat and country cheese.” The sympathetic protagonist, Jago, an orphaned street magician, is a penniless beggar and a reluctant thief, shrugging off his wrongdoing as means to an end. Able to think quickly on his feet and melt into any crowd, Jago uncovers a sinister plot by some greedy fortune hunters, then vows to stop them. He saves the day (and himself) during a dramatic climax aboard a storm-battered ship. Heneghan drops in one plot twist after another, and readers must determine what is real and what is illusion. The strongly delineated conflicts, the dramatic cast and the playful suspense should win Heneghan an audience. Ages 8–12. (Apr.)