The Magic Repair Shop will cast a spell on your middle-grade reader

Magic Repair Shop series by Amanda Marrone

Anyone who watched television in the 1980s remembers RIF’s PSA encouraging young people to read.

The biggest hurdle to getting children to read is finding something that they actually want to read. There are many iterations of this quote, but the message is the same regardless of the attribution—if you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book. So what is an adult to do when confronted with a reluctant reader? Take solace in recent Kids & Families Report that found 70 percent of kids want to read something that makes them laugh and 54 percent want to read books that let them use their imagination.

Isn’t that amazing? Who would have thought that kids just want to read for fun? I’ll tell you who — Amanda Marrone.
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Marrone penned The Multiplying Menace, The Shape-Shifter’s Curse and Master of Mirrors (Aladdin), the trilogy that comprises the Magic Repair Shop series (with fabulous covers by illustrator Brandon Dorman). Twelve-year-old Maggie Malloy is gifted with the power of wish fulfillment (what kid hasn’t wanted that power?) and finds out quickly that magic isn’t the solution to all problems. After an unfortunate incident gets her kicked out of school, Maggie finds herself in Bridgeport, Connecticut with her grandmother—and that is where the real fun begins. She finds a real life magic repair shop where she fixes magic that has gone awry. Maggie repairs cauldrons, breaks hexes and mends magical hats that will not stop duplicating rabbits. Of course there is an evil magician to contend with. What is a magical story without an evil magician?

There is enough action, adventure, magic and age-appropriate ickiness to satisfy the pickiest of readers, regardless of gender. At three books, the Magic Repair Shop series is just short enough to keep your middle graders on the hook, but long enough to compel them to seek out other titles.

From one parent to another—you’re welcome.