Lia and Beckett’s Abracadabra

When 17-year-old Lia Sawyer receives a letter from her grandmother Matilda—who has been missing for several years and was once a famous magician’s assistant—inviting her to spend the summer taking part in a stage magic competition in Mirror Lake, Wis., Lia simply sees it as an opportunity to have some fun. But Matilda’s invitation comes with a challenge to win, especially since the competition’s prize is control of the Starlight Theater, which has been in the Sawyer family for years. Her opposition most prominently includes the Blackwell boys—manipulative mentalist Elliot and his cousin, talented but disillusioned Beckett—who are grandsons of Matilda’s former husband and business partner turned rival. As Lia confronts the inherent sexism and underlying unscrupulousness of Mirror Lake’s magician community, she struggles to balance her own passion for magic with her growing attraction to Beckett. Lia and Beckett’s chemistry is no illusion; Parks (The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss) deftly merges their gentle blossoming romance with the mystique of conjuring, mind games, and card tricks to deliver an intriguing look into the behind-the-scenes world of stage magic, couched in a playful romantic comedy. Characters cue as white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Elizabeth Bennett, Transatlantic Literary. (July)