Reviewer: Denzil Barkley
Age: 13

I was not impressed by the book’s look: the colours on the cover were kind of dull and nothing really caught my eye. The topic, however, was very interesting. Houdini was an interesting person and, after all, the book was all about him.

What I liked most about the book was learning precise details about his history, and I also liked the pictures. The book had pictures of old posters and photos, which were quite fun to look at. Some of the captions on the side of the pages, however, had almost nothing to do with Houdini, and that didn’t appeal to me. Most of the activities were good, but others were too well known. Most of them took a bit of preparation and materials. I learned a few new tricks but not much.

I learned several things from this book; for example, I learned about dime museums (the first “edutainment” centres with a theatre/circus atmosphere). And I did have fun reading most of the book, although not all of it as some parts got quite boring. The first thing I would change about the book is improve the cover and the activities.

Overall, I thought that the book was okay — it wasn’t the best book ever, but it wasn’t the worst either. Out of a score of 10, I would give it a 6.5.

(Originally published in the July/August 2009 issue of YES Mag.)