SCOOTER KING UNDERSTANDS illusions. In the midst of the Roaring Twenties, he performs them behind the scenes at his mother’s séances, gi...
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reviews
Dec 09, 2011
Erin
rated it: 
The Séance
By Iain Lawrence
In the early 1900s many people were very interested in the paranormal and the occult--that's a fact. There were tons of mediums who supposedly could contact the dead and relay their messages to the living. Scooter King's mom is one of these mediums in the novel Séance, and like so many others, she is a fraud. While she pretends to be speaking with the dead (for a small fee), Scooter moves around in the dark touching people with his "spirit hands" More...
By Iain Lawrence
In the early 1900s many people were very interested in the paranormal and the occult--that's a fact. There were tons of mediums who supposedly could contact the dead and relay their messages to the living. Scooter King's mom is one of these mediums in the novel Séance, and like so many others, she is a fraud. While she pretends to be speaking with the dead (for a small fee), Scooter moves around in the dark touching people with his "spirit hands" More...
Nov 20, 2011
Reading
rated it:
Review Written by Andrea @ Reading Lark
http://readinglark.blogspot.com/2011/11/...
The Seance is a historical fiction piece that transports readers into the early 1900's when seances were a means of entertainment for the masses. Many believed in the mysticism of the time period and found themselves sucked into the spiritual movement. Famous people such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle even found themselves seeking out mediums in order to communicate with the dead.
Iain Lawrence n More...
http://readinglark.blogspot.com/2011/11/...
The Seance is a historical fiction piece that transports readers into the early 1900's when seances were a means of entertainment for the masses. Many believed in the mysticism of the time period and found themselves sucked into the spiritual movement. Famous people such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle even found themselves seeking out mediums in order to communicate with the dead.
Iain Lawrence n More...
Aug 24, 2010
Phoebe
rated it:
Scooter and his mother are running a moderately successful medium business, employing all the usual tricks of the trade to convince their clients that the spirit world is within reach and trying to contact them. Everything changes the day the great Houdini comes to town and the word goes around that he is bent on exposing frauds in the business. Scooter and his mother are understandably nervous, but Scooter is so enamoured of Houdini and his abilities that he seeks him out. When a popular per
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Mar 05, 2009
Kristen
rated it: 
Another juvenile, picked off the new books rack in the library. In an unnamed city in 1926, Scooter King, thirteen, goes to school and works hard to assist his mother, a professional medium. And then one day he stumbles into a much larger-scale and dangerous fraud - and also meets Harry Houdini, who is both fascinating (stage magician, escape artist) and alarming (also bent on exposing spiritualist frauds). It has lots of detail about spiritualist fakery, and portrays 1920s culture accurately
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May 05, 2009
Nicole
rated it:
There's nothing WRONG with this book, but there's nothing fabulous about it, either. It shows the author researched a lot about slang in the era, but the characters seemed paper-doll like and were not particularly well developed. The mystery angle had the feel of a script (okay, now we're at the climax so I should drop a clue here...). This mechanical nature of the writing without the love of character prevented me from really getting into what could have been an interesting tale about a psyc
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Jan 27, 2012
Mara
rated it:
One of Iain Lawrence's best books - right after The Convicts. He does a masterful job bringing the world of the early 20th century to life with the period-appropriate slang and vividly-described imagery. The Author casts new light onto the world's most famous escape artist, filling him with new life, making him seem like more than just another figure from history. What was probably the most pleasant about The Seance is it lacked the usual weirdness with which Iain Lawrence's books are so often c
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Sep 02, 2009
Julie
rated it:
The Séance is a magical murder mystery that takes place during the roaring twenties and opens with a nasty murder in Harry Houdini’s Burmese Torture Tank. Scooter King, the son of a con artist fortune teller, takes it upon himself to solve the murder, with the help of Houdini himself. Filled with quirky characters and downright bloody murders, will you find the killer before Scooter does? Prepare yourself for the fast-paced ending that will have you gasping for breath.
Jan 29, 2012
Mike
rated it:
This is a book for young adults which is sort of a murder mystery/supernatural thriller, but which culminates in the protagonist getting to bust a fraudulent medium and escape from a trap with the help of Harry Houdini. Lots of good information on Houdini, a bit about life in the 1920s, and quite a bit about how mediums and seances work to fool people into thinking they are in touch with the spirit world.
One thing that this book didn't explore enough was the ethical issues behind More...
One thing that this book didn't explore enough was the ethical issues behind More...
Mar 17, 2011
Kat
rated it:
Scooter King becomes part of a murder mystery when he tries to sneak a peak at Harry Houdini's Chinese Water Torture Chamber. Will Scooter be the next victim? A fun read with interesting details about Houdini and psychic mediums.
Apr 21, 2010
Ragan
rated it:
Pretty good especially if you are interested in the trickery involved in stances and are interested in Henry Houdini enough to read a fictional account of him, but not enough to read his actual biography.
Jun 23, 2009
Melanie
rated it:
I loved the language in this book! This humorous mystery tale is loaded with 1920's lingo. For example, calling a beautiful woman a "barbeque Jane."
Well-written and great for kids who love mysteries!
Well-written and great for kids who love mysteries!
Aug 22, 2011
Cmc1012
rated it: 
This one now makes me want to go the the Houdini museum in Scranton... Intriguing learning the insiders side of the medium trade in the early 20th century! Great characters. Didn't even realize this was YA when I was reading it...
Jun 16, 2009
Nancy
rated it:
This book has a good deal of humor, lots of slang from the 20's (some of which truthfully, I have to look up, I'm not really sure what they all mean) and a great mystery surrounding Houdini and his visit this young man's town.
Feb 06, 2009
Erin
rated it:
I'm always intrigued by books with Houdini as a character. . .and then I never really like them. I should be more aware of this pattern next time.
Aug 09, 2008
Alex
rated it:
Scooter King's mother is a medium who holds seances, and Scooter is her helper. He knows how to create ectoplasm, moving chairs, throwing voices, but when he meets the real Harry Houdini and a man is murdered, Scooter is faced with the real challenge of solving the murder.
Sep 29, 2008
what i have learned from this book is what the greater power is it's not about how much money you can get by trickery but to make people feel good about contacting their long lost love ones
Nov 20, 2011
Andrea (Reading Lark)
rated it:
Review on Reading Lark: http://readinglark.blogspot.com/2011/11/...
Nov 28, 2011
Nov 15, 2011
Nov 06, 2011
