MAGIC’S MOST WANTED

An unwitting Indiana 13-year-old contends with a magical Mastermind.

Mason Mortimer Morrison ranks No. 1 on Magix’s Most Wanted List—but has no idea why! Since his dad was incarcerated for a bank robbery, life has gone downhill: Mom’s always working, school’s a drag, and nobody but Hamid, a 10-year-old neighbor, wants to hang out. Everything changes when a magical music box interrupts a catastrophic book report and two agents from Magix’s Investigation Division take Mason into custody. Mason, they claim, is an Ed—an Educated person who understands how magic functions—while most people are blissfully unaware Igs, or Ignorants. Magic manifests in boons, once-ordinary objects imbued with power by good deeds—and Mason stands accused of pillaging a boon storage facility. Before Magix enacts a harsh sentence, Mason’s sprung from their clutches by the mysterious Avery, who claims she’s an apprentice detective, and the two begin working to prove his innocence. As they gather evidence, an unknown Mastermind begins interfering with their efforts—and seems to predict their every move. Can Mason and Avery sway Magix, or will the Mastermind’s plan prevail? Whitesides’ latest relies on nippy prose, lighthearted stakes, physical comedy, and thriller pacing to bring a large, inscrutable, sequel-begging bureaucracy to life. Mason seems to be White; Avery is cued as Black, and black-haired Hamid’s family emigrated from England.

A rollicking adventure.