Books With Bean ~ Hocus Pocus Hotel

Title: Hocus Pocus Hotel

Author: Michael Dahl

Published: 2012

Genre: Middle Grade, adventure, mystery 

Summary: When Charlie Hitchcock gets a note from the toughest kid in school he is scared because Tyler is not known for being nice. When Charlie meets Tyler after school that day, he learns that sometimes even tough kids needs some help when it comes to big problems. It goes like this: Tyler works at the mysterious Abracadabra hotel, better known by the local kids as the Hocus Pocus Hotel, a hotel built by the famous magician Abracadabra as a place for other magicians to live and practice their talents. One day Mr. Madagascar, one of the magicians, goes missing and so Tyler asks Charlie for help since Charlie is known as one of the smartest kids in their school. Tyler knows that the hotel isn’t normal as the magicians built it to be one giant show. But after what he and Charlie go through to find the missing magician neither of them feel like they ever really know what is going on. 

What I liked about it: I liked the characters a lot. Tyler was Cool and Charlie was fun. Brace the elevator operator is quirky and fascinating. The plot was a lot of fun because the hotel is all one giant magic show/fun house and so trying to solve the riddles and puzzles along with the boys was a lot of fun!

Language: None

Romance: None

Violence: None

Magic: My good gracious there is a ton of magic. Magic everywhere! However it is not spells and curses, it is slight of hand like you might see at a kids party, only on a bigger scale since the hotel was built to baffle the minds of those not in on its secrets. I loved the way the magic was because it made a lot of puzzles that were fun to try and solve. There were even a few parts where it showed kids how to do basic slight of hand. 

Recommended Age: This book is fun and clean. I think that as early as 8-9 is fine as it is not overly complicated while still being fun. That being said though, I would say there is no upper age as it is fun each time I read it, even when I know the end.