A heartfelt and much needed addition to the middle grade collection. King and his Mom move back to the city to try and rebuild the family home and ward off a foreclosure. King deals with the emotional trauma of moving to his childhood home without his Dad. I loved the mix of magical realism in an urban setting since this hasn't been a topic explored in middle grade literature.
I think this could be a great book suggestion for students of color who have lived in or are currently living in urban settings.

WOW! I have been reading this book with my middle grade reader for a couple of weeks now and we both really enjoyed it!! This book is engaging and fast paced (although it did start off a bit slow), the world that has been built was fantastically well developed, and the characters were funny and a really enjoyable group! As an adult I found that some of the decisions that Kingston was making were frustrating, but my son who is more the targeted audience for this story was excited, thrilled with Kingston's journey, and didn't seem to catch all of the foreshadowing and signs that I noticed! My sons biggest complaint was he didn't fully understand the "echo" theory until I kind of helped him work through that thinking. All in all though we both really enjoyed it and were glad we had the chance to read it together! Thank you for the free E-copy of this book as well as a big thank you to MB Communications for the physical ARC of this one as well, we loved it and my son can't wait to recommend this one to his friends at school!

Kingston and Magicians Lost and Found by Rucker Moses (a pseudonym for Craig S. Phillips and Herold Hayes Jr., both from Atlanta) is coming February 2021. This magical story set in "Echo City," Brooklyn mixes the world of stage magicians with alternate universes. The Black teen at the center of the story is trying to find his father who disappeared into another dimension through a magic mirror and runs afoul of creatures from the other side of the mirror who replace and sap power from those living here. Give this family oriented yet creepy story to readers in grades 5-7 who will also enjoy learning some histor. However, be prepared to discover that "Echo City," Brooklyn is not be a real place.

Kingston and his mom have to move back to their hometown, Echo City, where his father disappeared four years ago into a mirror during a magic trick. Kingston is convinced that his father is still alive, somewhere. When he starts finding clues that could possibly lead him back to his father, Kingston gathers his cousin, Veronica, and long-lost friend, Too Tall Eddie, to join him on a potentially dangerous mission. The trio learns that there is a whole lot more to this world than what we see on the surface and that they are running out of time to save Kingston’s father, who is trapped in a magical place called the Realm. Can they figure out the clues to save him in time, or will he be lost forever?

Moses and Gangi came together to create a magical story of a boy finding out the truth of his father’s disappearance with the help of his family and friends. The story is set in the city of Brooklyn, called Echo City in the novel, where we follow Kingston and his group of friends as they decipher clues and riddles in order to figure out what happened to his father the night he disappeared. While this novel could appeal to children who enjoy figuring out puzzles, the authors’ try to stuff too much action within the pages. If the book was a bit longer, the story would feel less cramped. The solutions to the characters’ problems come too easy to them, taking any suspense and intrigue out of the story. In short, the book does not leave you wondering if the characters are going to save the day or not because they are not challenged. On a good note, the magic system that the authors’ created for this novel is unique. A world where magician’s can use real magic by summoning it from a different realm can be a basis for a lot of interesting story plots and problems. Unfortunately, the one chosen for this novel was lacking.

Magic & mystery are at the forefront in this adventure. While the book starts off super slow once the action of the story really gets going it is sure to captivate readers. Adults will undoubtedly be frustrated with the poor choices that King makes throughout, but the younger readers will probably not notice the signs of impending doom. The "echoes" theory is a bit convoluted, but the overall story of loss of family and magic is sure to overshadow the shortcomings.

For libraries: Purchase where you have demand for magic themes.

Minus a few info dumps., this was a cute book. I really love tbr characters and twists. I wish we had a little more time with the family but I think middle schoolers will
Enjoy this.

I loved this book! Fun journey, great figurative language, love-able characters! I know my students will love it, too!