Edgar Nominee For Best Juvenile: The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey

The second read in my tour of the Edgar nominees for Best Juvenile had me reading The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey. This one made me smile: if Roald Dahl and Agatha Christie wrote a book together, this would be it. And that's a pretty big compliment, since both authors are childhood favorites of mine.

The story: 12 year-old Oona is the wizard's apprentice on Dark Street, a magical world that's hidden on the streets of New York City.
But Oona would rather be an investigator, so she leaves the world of magic to solve a mystery: who killed her uncle, the wizard?

The narrative flows perfectly, the characters are quirky, and the whodunit is fun and paced well. This was a well-balanced blend of magic and mystery for the middle-grade reader.

Verdict: Great for kids who like mystery and magic alike; paced for the reluctant reader.

Mystery Quotient: 4 out of 5, since it was as much mystery as fantasy. Solid amateur sleuth story, though.