For those readers always on the lookout for some intriguing middle grade non-fiction, Vanished will be a fun and fresh discovery. Each female magician is given her own chapter, and the author covers their life from birth to death. Their lives were not easy and their profession was extremely demanding–not only from a travel standpoint, but from a pressure perspective because it was cut-throat competitive in the performing magician arena. It is incredible that these women are not household names because they were all strong, driven, and accomplished professional magicians. The author did a lot of work to piece together the history of each woman with limited information. Sometimes it did seem like she did attribute motivations and feelings to the women that perhaps there was no way of validating; the author alludes to the challenge of weaving the stories with limited information in the epilogue, but maybe that acknowledgement might have been better situated at in the introduction. That said, the author seemed respectful and conscientious in bringing forward some really interesting history.

The books also has a strong visual component. It is augmented by images of old posters, photographs, newspaper clippings and such. Additionally, each chapter contains graphics showing the set-up of one of the magician’s tricks and then another graphic showing the reveal of the trick. (The reveal isn’t how the the magician accomplished the feat, but rather what the audience saw.) The edging of the book is trimmed in colorful and playful borders.

Middle grade readers should find this a compelling read and certainly one that hasn’t been covered before.

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy Provided by the Publisher

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: None

Violence/Gore: Report of fall and injury; report of death by heart attack; report of death in childbirth; report of death of animals in fire; report of death of a baby; report of death by shooting; report of being hit by a car, resulting in injury.

Sex/Nudity: Report of affair, no details.

Mature Subject Matter:

Deception, family strife, death of a family member/spouse/parent, poverty, bigamy, abandonment of spouse, children sent away from home by parent.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Reference to individuals smoking cigars.