Born of Illusion

May 1, 2013
Anna is the teenage daughter of Madame Van Housen, "Medium and Mentalist Extraordinaire," and she has been told all her life that she is also the daughter of Harry Houdini, though she's never been sure if it's true. A gifted magician in her own right, Anna can sometimes glimpse the future and also has the ability to sense the emotions of others, a power that becomes stronger soon after she meets a young Englishman named Cole. Although Anna loves her magic act, she is uncomfortable with the seances she and her mother do, especially after a young man killed in World War I speaks through her to his grieving mother. Brown gets the little historical details of 1920s New York life right, from the clothes to the restaurants to the public's interest in the occult. The pacing lags in the middle and the book is too long, but the first-person present-tense narration gives it immediacy. Anna's strong personality and her complex relationship with her mother (who mixes love with professional jealousy), as well as a slightly supernatural romance, provide lots of teen appeal. susan dove lempke

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2013
A gifted stage magician, Anna can sometimes glimpse the future and sense the emotions of others, a power that becomes stronger soon after she meets a young Englishman. Brown gets the historical details of 1920s New York right, and while the pacing lags, Anna's strong personality and her complex relationship with her mother, as well as a slightly supernatural romance, provide teen appeal.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2013
Newly arrived in the exciting Jazz Age-era New York City world of mentalists, mediums and seances, can Anna Van Housen hide her gifts from her jealous mother, even as her visions become more frightening? And is she really Harry Houdini's illegitimate daughter? Sixteen-year-old Anna, capable of tricks of illusion and escape and aware of her own growing extrasensory powers, is tired of being an assistant to her mother, Marguerite--a fraud who wants to be the world's most famous medium. Brown ably depicts the tension between Marguerite's jealous resentment of her daughter and Anna's attempts at independence, as well as Anna's confusion over the romantic intentions of two very different suitors. Indeed, characterization is a strength in this first-person narrative, in which the setting, New York City in the 1920s, is so richly drawn as to become a character in itself. Actual people, organizations and locations from the illusionist scene as well as abundant fashion details of the era immerse readers in rich historical context. Anna, able to communicate with the dead and see visions of the future, must figure out how to extricate both herself and her mother from separate kidnappings and finally learn whom she can trust. With an eye-catching jacket cover, this wordy mix of magic, history and romance will appeal to fans of Libba Bray. (Historical fantasy. 13 & up)

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