Gr 4-6-Can magic happen in Camden, NJ? Unlikely, thinks 11-year-old Augie Boretski. So far, he feels like a prisoner in the small, second-floor apartment that he shares with his hardworking mother. On Saturdays, when she is at her waitress job, he is told not to leave the house because the neighborhood has drug dealers in the park, bullies on the streets, and drive-by shootings. School is another torment for him. He is picked on by Dwaine, Sergio, and Fox Tooth, who regularly punch him and take his lunch money. There is no use in telling anyone; there's no one to tell. The boy's life begins to turn around when he sneaks off to Philadelphia and finds himself in a bookstore. Soon he is sinking into deep cushions and reading a mysterious book of fairy tales, in which the frontispiece changes every time he takes another look. His mother also arranges for him to have a Big Brother. Though Walter and Augie hit it off, Augie learns that Walter is gay and fears that he will be in for even more beatings when the loathsome threesome find out. Bauer alternates chapters from Augie's gritty, urban life with the mysterious opulence of a fantasy world in which fairies remain eternally young. The two worlds intersect when Augie takes to heart the spirit of the tales and decides to save his decaying school from being shut down. He seeks assistance from his own fairy godmother-the bookstore owner and writer of the book. A successful mingling of genres and a testament to the powerful truths in timeless tales.-Lillian Hecker, Town of Pelham Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Bauer balances tone and content beautifully in this superb debut. Eleven-year-old Augie Boretski doesn't expect the Big Brother program to do him any good, but that's before he meets Walter. The man could definitely be a good friend to a lonely boy, but there's danger. Growing up in Camden, N.J., "the armpit of the world," Augie's an easy target for bullies and if anyone found out that Walter is gay, it could be unspeakably dangerous for him. Yet when his public school shuts down after a winter accident, it's Augie who has the sense and courage to rally the neighborhood and bring it back to full health. The guidance of the strong adults around him gives the boy the courage to overcome his personal demons. Alternating Augie's story with some fairy tales he finds in a book, Bauer shows that there's no easy escape from gritty reality or any magic solution to bullying. Complex characters and an infinitely readable text make this one of the strongest titles of the year. (Fiction. 9-13) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In this heartwarming novel, a school chorus changes lives in a poor area of Camden, NJ. Eleven-year-old Augie, an only child with a hardworking single mother, enters sixth grade with trepidation. As a small boy whose only friend has moved away, he expects a year of loneliness and bullying. It begins that way, but his strict teacher works a small miracle by starting a chorus, which Augie joins. One of the bullies joins, too, and even begins to show signs of friendliness. When the school is threatened with closure midyear, Augie leads the chorus' charge to save it. One of his allies is a kind man, Walter, whom Augie rejects temporarily as a Big Brother because he is gay. About a quarter of the chapters, interspersed throughout, tell a series of tales from a magical book that Augie inadvertently takes from a bookstore. The African American bookseller, Louisa, turns out to be magical, too. The tales, along with Louisa, Walter, and Augie's mother, offer the encouragement the boy needs to change his life and believe in himself.--Odean, Kathleen Copyright 2007 Booklist