Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange Adventure

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Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange Adventure (Stuart Horten #1)

by Lissa Evans

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 873 ratings · 258 reviews

The exciting launch title of Sterling's middle-grade fiction list:
HORTEN'S MIRACULOUS MECHANISMS

Enter a wonderful world filled with real magic, mystery … and danger.

As if being small for his age and also having S. Horten as his name isn't bad enough, now 10-year-old Stuart is forced to move far away from all his friends. But on his very first day in his new home, Stuart's

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Hardcover, 272 pages

Published April 3rd 2012 by Sterling Children's Books (first published June 28th 2011)

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Jul 01, 2012 Tara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Small change for Stuart begins with Stuart’s family moving to a new town. Stuart finds life in the new town pretty boring. That is until; he begins his adventure to find his great uncle’s magic workshop. His next door neighbours, who are triplets, April, May and June, provide laughs with their different personalities and try and help Stuart.

As Stuart is on his journey, he has to solve little puzzles which the reader can do at the same time. This book is accessible for all ages if they want a fu...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Mel Döring rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Eine sehr spannende und aufregende Geschichte über Stuart Horten, der auf den Spuren von seinem Großonkel dem Magier, der eines Tages spurlos verschwand. Vorher hatte er seinem Neffen (dem Vater von Stuart) eine Dose geschenkt, mit dem dieser so überhaupt nichts anfangen konnte. Durch die Beschäftigung von Stuarts Mutter, zieht die Familie zurück in die Heimatstadt des Vaters. In dem befindet sich auch das Haus des Großonkels. Das Haus steht leer und macht einen verwahrlosten Eindruck. Stuart er...more

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May 02, 2013 Wal.li rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Acht Münzen für Stuart
Als Stuarts Mutter eine neue Arbeitsstelle antritt, ist Stuart gerade 10 Jahre alt und alles andere als glücklich. Denn die Eltern wollen an den neuen Arbeitsort ziehen. Jeglicher Versuch die Eltern umzustimmen ist schon deshalb von vornherein vergeblich, weil der Vater feststellt, dass die Arbeit nicht weit von seinem Elternhaus weg ist. Die Hortens ziehen also um, ins zunächst langweilige Beeton, wo Stuart niemanden kennt und einfach elend lange Sommerferien vor sich hat....more

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Apr 30, 2013 Becca.jensen rated it 5 of 5 stars

I picked up this book because I liked the cover (guilty as charged). It looked like a spooky read with an old-timey twist. While it wasn't scary, it was just the sort of thing to satisfy my odd-ball taste in reading: quirky long-lost relatives, a crumbling estate, birdwatchers, an old museum, and, of course, miraculous mechanisms. It was just my kind of book and I'm excited to watch the Horten saga unfold.

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms follows Stuart Horten (or S. Horten, as embarrassing as tha...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Julesmarie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: action-crime-mystery, childrens, fantasy

This was a unique experience: this book was recommended to ME by a student instead of the other way around. He did warn me that I need to buy the second book, as well... I should have listened. This ends just where I expected it to really begin.

This was a very fun, interesting read. Stuart is clever, adventurous and resourceful: a great character for my students to read about and try to relate to.

I admit, though, that given the title I'd anticipated more of the miraculous mechanisms and less of...more

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Sep 08, 2012 Stories48 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Stuart ist unzufrieden, seine Mutter bekommt einen neuen Job angeboten. Die Familie zieht darauf hin nach Beeton. In dieser Stadt ist Stuarts Vater aufgewachsen. Zu allem Unglück sind noch Sommerferien, und Stuart fühlt sich dort so allein ohne andere Kinder. Eines Tages findet er Hinweise auf einen verschwundenen Großonkel. Damit beginnt Stuarts großes Abenteuer.

Als Stuart die Langeweile plagte, und er nichts mit sich anzufangen wußte, machte seine Vater einen Spaziergang durch die Stadt. Dabei...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Sue Morris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-denut-author-challenge, debut-2012, donated-to-a-library, given-to-library, fiction, middle-grade, my-library

I have to go away, and I may not be
able to get back. If I don't return, then my
workshop and all it contains is yours if you
can find it—and if you can find it, then
you're the right sort of boy to have it.

Affectionately,

Your uncle Tony

P.S. Start in the telephone booth on
Main Street.

Back cover: When ten-year-old Stuart stumbles upon a note daring him to find his great uncle's hidden workshop, full of wonderful mechanisms, trickery, and magic, he sets out on a Willy Wonka-like adventure of a lifet...more

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Aug 20, 2012 LJ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile-books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Stuart Horten is very short, but that isn't the most interesting thing about him. The most interesting thing about him is that he is, unbeknownst to him, the heir of his Great Uncle Tony's--Teeny Tiny Tony Horten, a.k.a "The Great Horteni's"--hidden magic workshop. The story begins with young Stuart just moved at the beginning of the summer to his father’s small ancestral village in England. He doesn’t know anyone and there’s nothing to do, it being a small town and the beginning of the summer a...more Stuart Horten is very short, but that isn't the most interesting thing about him. The most interesting thing about him is that he is, unbeknownst to him, the heir of his Great Uncle Tony's--Teeny Tiny Tony Horten, a.k.a "The Great Horteni's"--hidden magic workshop. The story begins with young Stuart just moved at the beginning of the summer to his father’s small ancestral village in England. He doesn’t know anyone and there’s nothing to do, it being a small town and the beginning of the summer as the new kid. On a walk with his father one day, father and son pass by the abandoned house of Great Uncle Tony, a magician who mysteriously disappeared 50 years ago. He was blamed for the downfall of the family business, “Horten’s Marvelous Mechanisms” that built wonderful machines used for vending candy, telling fortunes, and the like. Flabbergasted that his father never told him such amazing family history, Stuart wants to find out more and while fooling around with a money box that was a present from Uncle Tony to his father, he does just that. First finding a secret compartment full of old three penny coins, and later a message that says the secret magic workshop is his if he can locate it. The coins become important later when Stuart learns that he must use them in several antique Horten mechanisms placed in stores and parks, as they are the only coins that will make the machines work and making the machines work will give Stuart the clues he needs to lead him to the hidden workshop.
Along the way there are heroes and villains. Stuart meets Lenore, the aged sister of Uncle Tony’s fiancé who tells Stuart a fascinating story about how her sister magically disappeared one day through one of Uncle Tony’s magic tricks, The Wishing Well. Lenore provides other tidbits of history at crucial moments. There’s also April, oldest of three triplet sisters, (May and June are the names of the other two) that live next door. At first Stuart finds them annoying as they stalk him as part of their investigative reporting for their newspaper project. Later realizing he must have assistance, and finding April to be unrelentingly clever, he enlists her aid. Jeannie and her witless magic student Clifford, forever failing to catch his dove and thus pass on to higher level of magic instruction, are the villains. Jeannie wants to steal away the magic shop after Stuart finds it and does what she can to intimidate him and keep his activities under surveillance.
In the end, after much satisfying clue finding and some harrowing episodes involving the menacing Jeannie, Stuart does find the magic shop. He gets much more than he bargains for as in an attempt to escape Jeannie’s clutches, he uses his last (bent) coin on the Wishing Well and Stuart and Jeannie get transported to where Uncle Tony, still alive resides. It’s a very rewarding ending to a very exciting book. The only disappointment here is that there will be another book when the ending was so nicely settled that there needn’t have been one.
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Aug 19, 2012 Brenda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Stuart Horten was an only child. His parents, though clever, were not fully involved in Stuart’s comings and goings. His mom was a scientist and his dad created crosswords. They had their things and Stuart had his – lots of friends, a great yard, a bike, a tree house, and a pond to explore. Life was pretty good until his mom got a new job, his dad discovered that the job was near his old hometown and it being the end of the school year the Hortens could easily move. Suddenly the boy who had ever...more

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Apr 16, 2012 The Rusty Key rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reviewed by Rusty Key Writer: Becca Worthington

Recommended for: Boys and girls, ages 8 and up

One Word Summary: Mesmerizing.

My father used to do magic tricks at my siblings’ and my birthday parties when we were little. It was basic, beginner stuff—pick a card any card, guess which tiny cup the fluff ball is under, sleight-of-hand-type novelty tricks—but it won us over nonetheless. We sat there year after year, a group of enthralled and entranced elementary schoolers on a green shag carpet, gawki...more Reviewed by Rusty Key Writer: Becca Worthington

Recommended for: Boys and girls, ages 8 and up

One Word Summary: Mesmerizing.

My father used to do magic tricks at my siblings’ and my birthday parties when we were little. It was basic, beginner stuff—pick a card any card, guess which tiny cup the fluff ball is under, sleight-of-hand-type novelty tricks—but it won us over nonetheless. We sat there year after year, a group of enthralled and entranced elementary schoolers on a green shag carpet, gawking up at this bearded magician extraordinaire, as he pulled a quarter from his mouth that we had distinctly watched him tuck under his shoe just a moment before!

There is something about magic. It captures the imaginations of children and adults alike, from clowns piling endlessly out of a circus car to David Blaine levitating and David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear. In whatever guise, it inspires the question, “Why do we love to believe in magic so much?”

Is it simply because it’s entertaining? Or is it because our creativity is triggered and intrigued by the unknown? Or could it be perhaps because we all truly, deep down, think that if a live rabbit can be pulled from a top hat, nose wiggling, then anything is possible; that if I pick the right card from this magician’s hand right now, the possibilities for my life and my destiny are limitless?

The wildly inventive middle-grade novel Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms by Lissa Evans reads like one giant, fantastic, eye-bulging magic show. It relays impressive tricks, careful never to show its hand until the right moment. It inspires, it dazzles, and it could happen to any one of us at any given time—or so it would be (and is) absolutely delightful to think.

Stuart Horten is a ten-year-old boy so short he is constantly mistaken for an eight-year-old. When his parents—a bustlingly busy doctor mother and a nerdy crossword puzzle writer father—decide to move to his father’s tiny hometown of Beeton in the English countryside, Stuart is horrified. There is nothing to do in miserable
little Beeton except poke around crumbling historical museums listening to lectures on ancient artifacts. That, and try to avoid the nosy next-door triplets, April, May and June, who seem determined to uncover the dirt on Stuart and publish an expose of his life in their homemade newspaper.

But that is all about to change, starting with the discovery of a little box. One dull morning at home with his father, Stuart accidently unlocks a trick coin box with a secret compartment that holds a handful of old coins and a note. The note is from his missing uncle, Teeny Tiny Tony Horton, a notoriously skilled local magician who disappeared under mysterious circumstances several decades before. On his way to the town library to dig up more information on the disappearance, Horton realizes he is being followed by the triplets. He ducks into a phone booth to escape, and out of curiosity, he puts one of the old coins into the phone slot before realizing that the phone cord is entirely severed, hanging lifeless and disconnected. Disappointed, he opens the booth to leave, and the phone rings. The voice on the other end of the line asks to speak to him. Stuart’s summer is about to get a lot more interesting.

Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms is a thoughtfully crafted and wonderfully told tale of an ordinary child who is in for the magical ride of his life. The first in what promises to be an extraordinary series, this charming debut gives its readers puzzles to solve, characters to enjoy, jokes to chuckle at, and smart twists to keep readers on their toes. If you like magic, you will breeze through this book faster than Houdini can escape an underwater straightjacket. Faster even, perhaps, than my father can pull a quarter from behind my ear. And that, my friends, is an impressive trick.

For more reviews, author interviews, reading lists, and feature articles from The Rusty Key, visit us at www.therustykey.com (less)

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Jul 08, 2012 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-younger, library

Magic, mystery & a very strange adventure: the subtitle of Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms is a fine description of what one finds in this delightful book. After his family moves back to his father's hometown, Stuart, age 10, finds himself alone and bored for the summer. New knowledge about the family history leads him to discover an old note from his great-uncle:

"I have to go away, and I may not be able to get back. If I don't return, then my workshop and all it contains is yours if you can...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Tessa Joy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Stuart Horten is not happy with moving to Beeton. But Stuart finds out that his Great-Uncle Tony lived there in the 1940s and that he was a famous magician. Soon after “Teeny-Tiny Tony” started to become a magician, he mysteriously disappeared. For decades people searched all over Beeton for Tony’s secret workshop where he left behind his famous magical inventions. No clues were found until Stuart stumbles upon his Great-Uncle’s trail. But a rival magician, Jeannie, has been closely following St...more

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Mar 19, 2012 thewanderingjew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Middle graders, male or female, will be captivated by this book, but readers in that age range who like fantasy and magic, will simply love this story. From the first page of this Advance Reading Copy, I was engaged, and as I read, my lips curled into a smile. Although there are some fearful moments and times when the characters make some pretty foolish decisions, some serendipitous discoveries, and cause some major damage to exhibits they were exhorted not to touch, they and the story are whole...more Middle graders, male or female, will be captivated by this book, but readers in that age range who like fantasy and magic, will simply love this story. From the first page of this Advance Reading Copy, I was engaged, and as I read, my lips curled into a smile. Although there are some fearful moments and times when the characters make some pretty foolish decisions, some serendipitous discoveries, and cause some major damage to exhibits they were exhorted not to touch, they and the story are wholesome, and the fearful moments are brief and resolve themselves quickly and without lasting issues.
The humor is gentle and feels true to life. There is just the right amount of silliness, secrecy and whimsy to fascinate a child. The author, Lissa Evans, has really captured the flavor of the ten-year-olds, in their conversations, mannerisms and deeds, as they try to solve a 40 year old mystery. Sometimes they do improper things, as children are wont to do, telling little white lies, even throwing caution to the wind and occasionally taking some pretty foolish chances. I wouldn't recommend that the children who read this story ever try to imitate anything these kids did, but the children who read it will love April and Stuart. Will these spunky children really discover the hidden workshop of the Magician, Teeny-Tiny Tony Horten, The Great Hortini, Stuart’s great-uncle who disappeared years ago along with his assistant?
Stuart is filled with a lust for life, but he also possesses the surliness of a boy who has been forced to move away from his friends, at the end of the school year, because his mom, a scientist, got a new job; he has no friends there, in Beeton, the town his father grew up in, and he has no prospect of making any until the summer ends and school begins again in his new neighborhood.
While going for a walk with his father, a crossword puzzle designer, they find the wreckage of the building that used to house his family business, Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms, and from there his dad begins to reminisce and tells him about his uncle Tony, a great magician! When they come across the wreck of his Uncle Tony's house, which has been empty for decades, Stuart is intrigued. His father had never told him about this part of the family. When they get home, Stuart, who is a curious child, has his interest piqued, and he gets his father's money box, given to his dad by his uncle Tony, and he finds a secret bottom with three pence coins in it.
From there the mystery takes off as Stuart seeks to find the clues which will lead him to the magician’s hidden workshop. On the way, he deals with many strange and magical occurrences, one of which is a disconnected phone which suddenly rings; he decides to answer. The person on the other end tells him the book he wanted is at the library. What book, he thinks? He hasn’t asked for any. The book, at the library, contains some photographs, and in each one, there is a picture of his great-uncle. Will these magical moments lead him to the clues he needs to solve the mystery? Can he do it alone? Fate intervenes in the form of one investigative reporter, April Kingley, who becomes Stuart’s partner in crime. She is one of a set of triplets, (the others being May and June), who are putting out a newspaper. They live in the house adjacent to Stuart’s.
When Stuart begins his investigation to find the missing workshop of his great-uncle, April is busy investigating him. It took a bit of convincing, but she has a very strong personality and eventually, in spite of his rude replies, wins him over and joins him in his effort. She is taller than Stuart which makes her very useful since he is very short for his age. Stuart has a really casual way about him, taking most things in stride. He is curious and loves adventure. He wonders often about his parents choice of name for him; They named him Stuart Horten, also known as S. Horten or Shorten, and then Shorty to teasing friends. April wears glasses and Stuart would like to be taller. These are regular, run of the mill, normal children with normal problems. They work together, helping each other to achieve their goal, each using the skills that overcome their handicaps of vision and height.
There is another heroine of sorts, in this story, an elderly blind woman and her guide dog Pluto. She is a sweet and kind lady who helps the children solve the mystery. Her sister was the magician’s assistant. The story wouldn’t be complete without its villains and Jeannie and her magic school student, Clifford, fill this role. She is a devious, bitter, rather unethical bully and he is fooled by her false promises.
This fantasy is very creative and well written. The characters are well developed. There are no missing pieces in the book; everything falls into place and is resolved. Reading this book, children will be inspired to dream, to believe that they can overcome their shortcomings, to think that the impossible might be possible and to believe that wishes might sometimes come true if you work hard enough to make it happen.
A wonderful part of this book is that the author has the child and father engaging in conversation without talking down to the child in baby language. The vocabulary is not your everyday garden variety, but when a word that a child would not readily understand is used, it is explained immediately after, either with Stuart questioning his dad or the author writing the definition into the tale. It is a marvelous story that will take the 8-12 year old boy or girl on a journey into a magical, mystical land of new experiences. It will let their imaginations soar.
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May 26, 2012 cecilia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms reminds me of The Phantom Tollbooth or Coraline where a young person manages to find his or her way into some wonderful and magical adventure where anything – especially that of an unexpected nature – can happen. This was a charming yet awfully short read, and I loved watching Stuart try to decipher his uncle’s encrypted messages and learn about his family legacy in magic-making. I also enjoyed Mr. and Mrs. Horten’s quirks, especially Mr. Horten’s crossword-inventi...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Kristi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrensfiction, fourstars, mystery, fantasy

This fast-paced first children's novel first attracted me by the Edward Gorey style illustrated cover. But Stuart Horten and his adventures in Beeton were a lot of fun. There is magic, of both the slight of hand/constructed kind and the mysterious events type. Stuart discovers that his great-uncle has left a mysterious legacy behind in Beeton when his family returns there due to his mother's new job. Beeton is new to Stuart, if not his father, and Uncle Tony Horten's clues lead him all over town...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Ms.Gaye rated it 4 of 5 stars

Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms follows Stuart Horten as he solves a mystery that is created especially for him.
Stuart imagines a very dull summer when the family moves to Beeton, a small boring town with no playground or swimming pool nearby, but when Stuart learns of his Great-Uncle Tony’s mysterious disappearance from Beeton years ago, he begins to investigate. Uncle Tony, a magician, left behind a magic coin box that Stuart quickly figures out, revealing a set of unusual coins. Using one of t...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bob-2012, children-s-fiction, british-author, middle-grade-fiction, mystery, time-theme

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 25, 2012 TheBookSmugglers rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mg, charming-mg

This is the Great! Unexpected! Dangerous! story of the great magician Tony Horten, the mysterious circumstances of his disappearance and the quest that a young boy undergoes to find the magician’s missing workshop and its miraculous mechanisms.

The unlikely hero of this story is a (small for his age) 10-year-old boy named him Stuart Horten by his very smart yet not entirely sensible parents. With a name that could be shortened to S. Horten, Stuart, who is indeed a child very small for his age, is...more This is the Great! Unexpected! Dangerous! story of the great magician Tony Horten, the mysterious circumstances of his disappearance and the quest that a young boy undergoes to find the magician’s missing workshop and its miraculous mechanisms.

The unlikely hero of this story is a (small for his age) 10-year-old boy named him Stuart Horten by his very smart yet not entirely sensible parents. With a name that could be shortened to S. Horten, Stuart, who is indeed a child very small for his age, is granted the nickname shorten by his friends.

In any case, in spite of that, Stuart’s life is pretty good (what with a bike with eight gears and a garden with a tree house and a pond) until his not entirely sensible parents decide to move away to a small town where his father’s family used to live. This is done at the worst possible time ever, meaning: at the of the summer holidays when (as any sensible person would know) it is basically impossible for anyone to make new friends.

Luckily for Stuart, the move leads to the beginning of an awesome Adventure (with capital A) as he finds himself solving the (literal) puzzle of his (as it turns out) Great-Uncle Tony’s disappearance with the aid of the his new neighbours, the triplets April, May and June.

Small Change for Stuart is a super fun read: vastly entertaining and smart. From the clues Stuart must solve to the mechanisms that his uncle has built, it is all very cleverly done. That, combined with other threats woven into the story, like Stuart’s relationship with his older parents, his trips to the library to research the past, a tragic (or it is) love story, just make this little book all the more engaging to older readers as well as kids.

But what really tipped the book into awesome territory for me are two things. First, the friendship that develops between Stuart and the triplets (most of all with April). I loved how at first, Stuart finds them completely alien and scary. The trio run their own newspaper and each kid has a journalistic role to perform and that in itself is a hoot but also show to Stuart how clever they are and eventually he sees them as allies in his adventures. In fact, April becomes the Brains of the operation and Stuart (begrudgingly at first) admires her for that.

Second, this book acknowledges the fact that 10-year-olds live in a universe of their own. There is a very serious moment in the novel in which Stuart has to think about his heart’s desire and it is no surprise that Stuart’s entire universe boils down to the fact that he is short. There is a really interesting balance between the gravitas and importance of this admittedly self-absorbed moment to Stuart at the same time that it shows his decision to do the Right Thing to everybody. I love these moments of True Growth in children’s books especially when the story is still simply fun.

From the adorable opening to the surprising ending Small Change for Stuart is a great MG book. Glad I found it. (less)

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Nov 21, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 4 of 5 stars

This children's novel is set in England. When 10-year Stuart's family moves back to the town his father grew up in, just at the start of summer vacation, Stuart looks for ways to amuse himself. When he discovers his father's uncle was a magician and went missing years ago, he is intrigued and wants to know more about the man. Trying to hide from the triplets next door, April, May and June, Stuart looks for ways to learn more about his great uncle, and is surprised when magical things start to ha...more

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Oct 29, 2012 B_Jones rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Ich muss weg, und es kann sein, dass ich nicht mehr zurückkehre. Wenn ich nicht wiederkomme, gehört meine Werkstatt und alles, was sich darin befindet, dir - wenn du sie finden kannst.
Und wenn du sie findest, dann bist du auch der Richtige dafür."
Seite 5 / Vorspann + Seite 97

Inhalt:
Der 10jährige Stuart Horton kann es nicht fassen: Verkünden ihm doch seine Eltern, dass sie - ausgerechnet auch noch zu Ferienbeginn - umziehen werden. In die verschlafene Stadt Beeton soll es gehen, in der sein...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Ryan Miller rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is short and unpretentious--both in the writing style and the execution. I loved the puzzles, which were believable and able to be deduced, but not so obvious that children would be flummoxed. I did really like this, and I'll continue reading Lissa Evans' work, but there were two pieces of this book that were difficult for me. First, I was waiting for a larger denouement of the antagonist's motivation. What we got wasn't convincing enough for me to truly root against her. Second, (spoi...more

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May 18, 2012 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

I decided to read this one myself and I am glad that I did! Stuart is such a great character. He is smart and a bit sassy, just like a real 11 year old boy. He moves with his parents to his fathers hometown and this starts Stuart on a journey. This journey is full of adventure, mischief and puzzles perfect for a boy his age. Did I forget to mention magic? Stuart is surrounded by unexplainable magical things soon after he gets to town and finds out that he might be just the sort of boy meant to f...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Ann Haefele rated it 3 of 5 stars

A good solid mystery that will be hard to sell to kids because of the drab cover. Ten year old Stuart is new to town but stumbles on a note that leads him to his great uncle's hidden workshop which is full of magic and amazing machines. To find this workshop, Stuart must follow clues and solve puzzles. Along the way he makes friends with his next door neighbor April, who is a triplet with sisters named May and June. While April is bossy and at first unlikeable, she ends up being an essential pa...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: steampunk, science-fiction, j-fiction

A cute little book for middle-graders who will grow up to be steampunk fans. Stuart Horten is short. He will never forgive his parents for giving him a name that can be written as S. Horten. When his mom gets a new job, his family moves to the town that his dad grew up in, and once there, Stuart finds clues to his family history, specifically his Great-Uncle Tony, magician and inventor extraordinaire. As he chases the clues, he must join forces with the annoying triplets next door, April, May, a...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Pamela Huxtable rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kid-s, adventure, steampunk

Fun, exciting and imaginative. Stuart Horten explores his family's mysterious roots when his parents move the family to the town of Beeton.

There are some obvious influences, including Roald Dahl's Charlie books and the memorable bulldozer scene from the beginning of The Hitchiker's Guide. But Evans definitely carves out her own territory with Uncle Tony's magical devices. There are some terrific characters - Stuart's crossword puzzle obsessed father is very funny. Stuart's new friend April is a...more

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Sep 15, 2012 Victoria Whipple rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, friends, magic, mystery

Stuart Horten has just moved with his mother and father to the small town where his father grew up, and he's not thrilled about it. He soon notices that he's being spied upon by a girl next door--actually 3 girls, triplets who are investigating the new neighbors so that they can write an article about them for their neighborhood newspaper. Stuart doesn't get off to a good start with these girls; in fact, he finds them quite annoying. Upon learning some family history, Stuart sets out to try to d...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great book. Mainly simple vocab but good plot.

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Mar 28, 2012 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Stuart Horten was in for a big surprise, when his parents informed him that they were moving. This was not good for Stuart. Summer time was about to start. This is definitely, not the right time to move for a ten year old, when school is out and he is the new kid. Who will he play with? With there is always his next door neighbors…the Kingley triplets…April, May, and June. They are quite interested in Stuart. Stuart finds a grand adventure when his stumbles upon a message from his Uncle urging S...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Flora Bateman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-grade-age, mystery

What a fun, cute book! This book is perfect for middle grade kids, ages 8-12, or for anyone who is still a kid at heart.

Stuart Horten, S. Horten, who is smaller than most kids his age, has just moved to his dad's old hometown. Its summertime and Stuart knows no one in the neighborhood. He's feeling lost and lonely when he comes upon a family mystery. He learns that his great uncle Tony Horten was a magician that mysteriously disappeared. When he unexpectedly comes across the first in a series o...more

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May 30, 2012 Chelsea rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-grade-fiction

A fun mechanical mystery. A love a good clue trail, particularly one that has gone cold over time, and Horten was an engaging character to tag along with. The British, old-fashioned(ish) feel of the setting was also fun, and fit in perfectly with the history mystery revolving around magicians, disappearances, and clockwork secrets. However, I wish the ending hadn't been supernatural - I thought the emphasis on the mechanical would have led to a plausible explanation, but was disappointed by a su...more

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About Lissa Evans

After a brief career in medicine, and an even briefer one in stand-up, Lissa Evans became a comedy producer, first in radio and then in television. She co-created Room 101 with Nick Hancock, produced Father Ted, and co-produced and directed The Kumars at Number 42. Her first novel, Spencer’s List, was published in 2002. Lissa Evans lives in north London.

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“I'll just hang upside down from the wire banana and throw bags of flour at the librarians.” — 4 people liked it

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Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange Adventure (Stuart Horten #1)

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