Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Magic's Most Wanted hooked me right from the beginning. This book follows the journey of Mason to figure out why he has been targeted by Magix. This middle grade novel is a fast paced mystery, adventure, fantasy tale that will leave you wanting more!!

Really enjoyable. Sometimes gets unmoored from the reality it creates and becomes a little "silly" for silly's sake. But otherwise the characters are well written, the plot advances at a nice even pace, and the ending pays off. Nicely done.

When a plot centers on magic, I feel very strongly that said magic needs to follow clear rules. If it has no bounds, then anything can happen and there are no real stakes for the characters. In the case of this book, a particular magical object can do just about anything but is limited to a single ability. And Whitesides never deviates from this rule, only takes advantage of built-in loopholes. Magic aside, this is a pretty standard adventure quest. We have a mismatched team thrown together by circumstance, working together for a single aim. There's a vast conspiracy years in the making. Basically, exactly what you would expect. It's pretty entertaining, though lacking in depth.

Action and suspense make this a wild ride that middle grade readers will enjoy a great deal. Perfect book for reluctant readers since this throws you in right from the start! I loved the world building and the magical world being explained to Mason and the reader!

I received an electronic ARC from HarperCollins Children's Books through NetGalley.
Whitesides newest book pulls readers in from the opening chapters. I loved his Janitors series and this new story shares the same magic touch.
Mason's world has completely changed in the last year. His dad was arrested and convicted of robbing a bank. Mason firmly believes his dad is innocent. When sharing an oral book report on a book he didn't read, he unleashes a magic boon and transports his entire class to another location. And then the action really begins. He's pulled into a world where magic is real and ordinary objects perform magical feats. He is arrested and convicted in this magical courtroom for stealing boons even though he too is innocent. Together with a new friend, Avery, he sets out to solve what happened and save his dad.
Humor meshes with adventure and enough suspense to keep readers focused and involved from start to finish. Looking forward to other stories about these characters.

Mason has been struggling recently; his father has been imprisoned for robbing a bank, even though Mason is sure he was framed. Finding it hard to keep up with his schoolwork, Mason hasn't read his book for an oral book report, but has borrowed a music box from his mother to use as a show-stopping visual. His teacher isn't convinced by this, and when Mason opens up the music box, his entire class is whisked away to Antartica! He opens the box and moves his classmates several times before men appear to arrest him for misusing magic. Mason knows nothing about this, but the men claim that he has been stealing "boons" (ordinary objects into which magic seeps). They even have him on tape! How can Mason be Magix Most Wanted criminal when he doesn't even know what the group is talking about? He is assigned a liaison, a girl about his age named <Ava?> who helps him escape from the agents in gray suits. She teaches him a lot about the world of magic, and the two (with the help of a querulous talking rabbit) try to figure out why he's being framed.
Strengths: For someone who also has written adult books (and I know I shouldn't be prejudiced against them, but sometimes the attempts at switching from adult to MG are so painful!), he has an excellent, smooth middle grade style. The story moves along quickly, the lines are clever, and the characters realistically portrayed. What middle grade reader hasn't gotten called up short on an oral presentation? I, for one, NEVER had to use the knowledge gained by routinely reading Anne of Green Gables twice a year to extemporaneously report on it in 7th grade! The world building is solid, and the secondary story line of Mason's father's own involvement with the law adds depth.
Weaknesses: This seemed a tiny bit young somehow. Thinking about why. Maybe the rabbit?
What I really think: I love Whitesides' writing, and his Janitors and Wishmakers series are very popular in my library. Also, I could not get the scene from the television show Bewitched where Samantha has to appear before the Witches Council out of my head when I was reading about Mason's trial!