Adrian Fogelin

I feel like the cover and the title of this story was kind of misleading or like I usually do -- I expected something completely different. The "magic" in Some Kind of Magic comes from an old hat from a missing uncle. Cody, who's almost seven and shares a birthday with his uncle, gets his brother and his brother's friends along on an adventure. Their adventure starts with following where Cody's new hat leads them -- to an abandoned home. It ends up revealing a truth from the past and guiding the friends towards a summer that will change their lives forever.


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Cody is the sweet, rule following, hat wearing one in the group. Ben is his older brother who is tired of his little brother hanging around and the one everyone follows. His girlfriend Cass is caring and isn't afraid of keeping up with the boys. Neither is her best friend, Jemmie, who is always up for a challenge and talented at sports. Justin, the final member of the group, is a talented pianist whose skills on the piano hasn't given him the courage to tell Jemmie how she feels.


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The different POV's were a bit unorganized. I had trouble keeping track of them. That was the downside of the story. The upside is that after getting used to where the story was taking me, I got swept up with the mystery of it all. This had more mystery than magic, but this story of friends ended up being tearjerking even if it wasn't perfect. I think that knowing that this is more of a middle-grade read and that this story is more about mystery and friendship will set you up with a good experience.

Thanks to NetGalley and Peachtree Publishers for allowing me to read Some Kind of Magic in exchange for an honest review!… (more)

I chose VOYA code 4Q because the quality of this book is great, but not without some lapses. The writing captures the characters and the author even portrays the racist father in such a way that the reader can empathize and understand him. That's a hard thing to do. At times, though, the falls over into the cliche category. I chose 3P because I'm not sure the subject matter will really entice a lot of young adults.

The central plot line of this book is the development of a friendship between two 12-year-old girls. The girls become friends when Jemmie's family, a black family, moves in next door to Cass's family, a white family, in Tallahassee, Florida. The friendship is founded on the girls' mutual love for running. The girls read aloud to each other from Jane Eyre. They work through the novel together and provide their fresh teen/tween commentary on it. The novel explores not only Cass's white father's racism against the family moving in next door -- he builds a fence as soon as he hears a black family bought the place -- but also Jemmie's black mother's preconceived ideas about the white family that built the place. I agree with the School Library Journal review, which states, "The rationale behind bigotry is well fleshed out and delicately examined, but sometimes feels a little over done. Nevertheless, the characters are believable and the story line is sensitive and honest."

This book is really a work in its own right, an exploration of racism and racial bias. The book provides a tie-in to and contemporary criticism of the Charlotte Bronte classic, and does a good job of creating interest in it. I read Jane Eyre ages ago, but it was good fun to have the plot revived for me in this way. Crossing Jordan uses the classic work as a way of bringing the girls closer. Young adult readers will gain exposure to the classic, and the novel will pique their interest in the classic. Crossing Jordan cannot be critiqued based on its faithfulness to Jane Eyre. It's a different story entirely, but one that incorporates the classic to achieve its own literary ends.… (more)