The Wonder Brothers

I always enjoy a Frank Cottrell-Boyce book, and this was a fun read. Coming from not far from Blackpool, the setting resonated, and I found it coming to life as I read. I liked the shifting character perspectives as they all added to the development of events. The characters of the children (and Queenie) were endearing and will engage those of a similar age (in particular). I was fascinated with the elements of magic, and I am sure our KS3 students will feel the same as I will be buying a copy of this for the school library.

Cottrell-Boyce has done it again! The Wonder Brothers is another brilliant read: funny, entertaining and with a great storyline. I am in awe of Cottrell-Boyce’s storytelling skills - his usual witty and lively style of writing were clear to see in his latest book. I really enjoyed this story - the multiple narrators, the sense of mystery and the entirely believable unbelievable things that happen throughout! Another triumph from one of my favourite children’s authors.

Wow! I loved this book; another super read from Frank Cottrell-Boyce. So much magic and wonder kept me turning the pages long after bedtime! I enjoyed the way that the story was told from different points of view. This book is perfect for anyone who loves magic and adventure, there are loads of both in this story. There are some really endearing characters, some of whom aren't human! This would make a super class read in school, I can see the children on the edge of their seat waiting to know what trick is next (that's how I felt anyway!). I will definitely be buying this for my school library.

I've just finished reading this to my 3 children, aged 6, 8 and 10. They were all completely entranced by Middy, Nathan, Brodie and of course Queenie's escapades. The whole book is truly magical, and we were totally enthralled. Frank Cottrell-Boyce knows exactly how to fill his readers with wonder. What a gift!

If you want to encourage children to love books and stories and to read for pleasure, then I urge you to buy (or borrow from your public library) a copy of The Wonder Brothers and spend some time this summer reading it with children that you love. Frank Cottrell-Boyce delivers a story which is monumentally entertaining, and which I guarantee you will not want to put down until the final “Ta-dah”! His writing has the capacity to transport you on a raft of merriment through an adventure where big dreams, hope and magic combine with laugh out loud comedy. He is so obviously an author who believes in the huge capacity of children’s imaginations, and The Wonder Brothers is a story bursting with wit and warmth, and which delivers awe and wonder in every chapter.

The tale revolves around three cousins, Middy, Nathan and Brodie, and literally chewing the scenery and stealing the show, Queenie, the greatest fictional rabbit since A. A. Milne’s version. Every summer holiday Nathan and Brodie travel from their respective homes to stay with Middy in Blackpool, where Middy’s dad, Uncle Kevin is the electrician responsible for the Blackpool illuminations and Middy’s mum, Auntie Anya, is the plumber responsible for the waterworks in the Blackpool Tower. These job roles are essential to the plot, in the first instance because they allow the children to be present when Perplexion, the world’s greatest magician visits the home of magic to switch on the Illuminations as the penultimate step of his final world tour. Not only do Nathan and Middy, the eponymous Wonder Brothers, hijack his TV appearance with one of their own magic tricks, but when Perplexion makes the Blackpool Tower disappear, grand showman Nathan announces to the nation that The Wonder Brothers will make it reappear. The children then perform their own vanishing act, accidentally getting locked into Perplexion’s equipment trailer and many hours later emerging as illegal entrants to Las Vegas.

What follows is a brilliantly plotted comedy caper, woven through with everyday magic seen in the small details of life, the kindness of strangers and the ingenuity of the human spirit. There’s a world weary Las Vegas police captain recounting the story as a deadpan crime account; frequent quotes from Karabas the Modest; hilariously worldly nuns; and best of all the chance to get to know Nathan, Middy and Brodie whose personalities pulsate with life and who genuinely remind readers “that they live among wonders”. Steve Lenton performs his own illustrative magic in depicting the wonder of Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s words through his black and white drawings. As an adult reader, it is clear that the author has packed so much detailed research into the story but he has the literary sleight of hand to conceal it in the narrative without missing a beat. Thus you can enjoy this book as pure entertainment or, if inclined, you can dig beneath the surface for deeper themes and factual nuggets. One of my favourite examples is the children finding shelter in a little Las Vegas church, which just so happens to be named after the patron saint of illumination, metalwork and fugitives; you couldn’t make it up. Ta-dah!

I am most grateful to NetGalley and to Macmillan Children’s Books for allowing me access to an eARC of The Wonder Brothers ahead of publication. I will be purchasing a copy of the book when it is available.

Series-of-coincidental-events in a magical riot of Top Hatted fun.

Cottrell-Boyce really does know how to draw together a brilliantly told story. You can just sit back and let the plot wash over you, knowing you're in the hands of a storyteller who knows where he's taking his characters and that you're in for a great ride with them. Every time.

His young protagonists, along with the Las Vegas police officers interviewing them, tell their story. Of how they somehow managed to get from Blackpool to Las Vegas in search of the missing Blackpool Tower that the world's most famous magician made disappear.

And how this means they didn't make it home in time for their evening meal, but took their oversized rabbit on a madcap adventure into hotel spas, Vegas shows and slot machines and impressed a whole bunch of people with their magic.

The children narrate enthusiastically, engaging the reader with their first-hand accounts of their ridiculously coincidental escapades. It's beautifully silly and I couldn't get enough of it. And I loved the magic references, to quoted magicians, to how tricks are performed, it was a perfect book for readers of 8 to 12. I might even read it to my 6-year-old.

Recommended. With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce is just one of the best writers we've got and an absolute master of voice and comedy. This is a brilliant, wondrous read full of twists and tricks and the most marvellous magic. Can't wait to see the final book with Steven Lenton's fabulous art. What a pairing.

The children adored this. We travel to the Blackpool area often to visit family and it just added so much to the story that we knew the location. The characters are great and interesting, the story engaging and at times exciting. We must buy a paper copy to study the illustrations better.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s writing in The Wonder Brothers (his latest book) is sure to please many children and wholly spark imaginations. This is, after all, a fun, imaginative caper.

Travel to Blackpool, on the west coast of northern England with cousins - Middy and Nathan to see the delights of the seaside, famous for its stick of rock, the pleasure beach, full of rides, the sea and sand, donkeys, trams, stage shows and of course, even more famous than that - Blackpool Tower.

Middy and Nathan have a magic act and go by the name - The Wonder Brothers. The tricks are fun and there’s mischief with their rabbit. There’s even more hi-jinx when suddenly, Blackpool Tower disappears. The book becomes more mysterious at that point. It is a book with twists and turns as the mystery of the whereabouts of Blackpool Tower takes the intrepid pair to Las Vegas. It’s quite an adventure and one kids will love to get on-board with to help solve the puzzle.

This magical is packed full of comical capers, laugh out loud humour and a lot of magic. It’s a must read for the summer and beyond.

What should have been a wonderfully novel story of children absconding from Blackpool to Las Vegas because the best magician in the world has 'stolen' the Blackpool Tower and they promised to bring it back, is actually almost painful to read at times. There is realism in the disjointed telling, as we get everything from the points of view of both Wonder Brothers (although they're not brothers, she's a girl, and yes, we get it, she's not his assistant either), but it is just so repetitive. He tells us what happened, she tells us what happened, we get a better look at the chronology of things and we then get told what happened once more. The story just chunters along repeating itself – and then we see the entire list of Rules of Magic all over again, even though we'd already read them an hour ago at the beginning.

I was ultimately happy enough I stuck with this, for the drama of the story is intriguing enough – just about. There is something about the ending that will surprise, even if the sentiment of it has been foreshadowed, and a lot of the conclusion can only come from mahoosive plot holes I won't go into for spoilers. I think the name-dropping "look guys, mucho research!" aspect of the telling was surprisingly clunky, and I don't know how much of this dates from covid times but it really reads as if the editor was on a work-from-home that afternoon and intent on making too much plonk disappear. Will it move an audience – like the much-lauded (here, if nowhere else) David Copperfield stunts? Potentially. Will it allow a few hours pass in high spirited fashion? Yes. Will it frustrate almost to the point of being thrown at the wall? Surprisingly so – which was not a trick I ever expected from this author.

Reviewed by my 11 year old. This story is about the Blackpool Tower going missing and an entertaining cast of characters seek to bring it back. Overall this was a good read and one that fans of the author’s previous works will enjoy. Many thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Children’s books for this ARC

This was the first Frank Cottrell-Boyce I read and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's sweet, funny and well written story about magic, brothers. There's humour and a brilliant story
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I love stories about magic shows and magicians, illusion and sleight of hand, so I was keen to read about cousin magicians Nathan and Middy, Nathan's brother Brodie and Queenie his rabbit. When Nathan, Brodie and Queenie visit Middy in Blackpool for the annual turning on of the lights, they are stunned to see Blackpool Tower vanish, and vow to return it. Somehow they find themselves in Las Vegas and take it in turns to explain magic, magicians, and how they think they somehow ended up in Vegas to the sceptical police captain.
It's very cleverly told, hugely entertaining, and very humorous, with endearing characters (especially the rabbit) and I loved the peppering of magician terminology and tricks throughout the book.
Highly recommend this fun read which is also very nicely illustrated.

The Wonder Brothers (cousins Nathan and Middy) love magic, so when the world famous Perplexion is booked to switch on Blackpool Illuminations, they are beyond excited. What they aren’t expecting, is for Perplexion to make Blackpool Tower disappear. Their quest to bring it back leads then to Las Vegas and lots of adventures on the way.

I loved this story. I was hooked from the beginning and the story moved at a cracking pace. It is told in multiple voices, from the three children and a police officer, with some events told in flashback. I think some children may have difficulty following the timeline of the story as it is not straightforward but this enables the author to keep the reader guessing and builds up a sense of anticipation.

I liked the way magic tricks were described, without disclosing how they are done. This made the reader feel as though they were being inside knowledge without the author actually revealing anything. Very clever! Ultimately though, the book encourages you to see the magic and wonder all around us, everyday.

A great read.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Wonder Brothers is funny, magical, riveting, and totally original. I loved it!

I really loved the Blackpool/Las Vegas setting and how the story moved along told by its different narrators. The insertion of a police officer alongside the children to tell the story of how they somehow ended up embroiled in the vanishing of the Blackpool Tower, illegally entering America for the final show of a great magician was a stroke of genius. The cousins - The Wonder Brothers - all narrate with such ease you genuinely feel like they could be sat alongside you telling you about each twist of events. From swindling street magicians to high-rise spa to a group of nuns helping them take shelter in Las Vegas church, The Wonder Brothers conjures up fantastic characters on a hilarious journey that is a joy to read. It will certainly be in my classroom next year.

This is a big hearted and fun story that will appeal to all ages and possibly inspire a new generation of magicians! Frank Cottrell-Boyce really knows how to talk to children. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.