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Wizard for Hire
(Wizard for Hire #1)
by
Fourteen-year-old Ozzy lives near Portland, Oregon, and is desperate for help. His scientist parents have been kidnapped after discovering a formula that enables mind control. Their work was so top secret Ozzy is afraid to go to the police, but without help, he fears he'll never find his parents. Then he stumbles across a classified ad in the local newspaper that says "Wiz
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Even though Wizard for Hire wasn’t quite what I was expecting, it surprised me (in a good way).
I read middle grade books to recapture some of the magic I felt as a kid venturing into Harry Potter and many of the other amazing titles I was lucky enough to read. Wizard for Hire did an excellent job giving me the nostalgia I craved while providing some unexpected food for thought. Skye found the perfect balance between fun for kids and evoking for adults.
Honestly, this is going to be a relatively s ...more
I read middle grade books to recapture some of the magic I felt as a kid venturing into Harry Potter and many of the other amazing titles I was lucky enough to read. Wizard for Hire did an excellent job giving me the nostalgia I craved while providing some unexpected food for thought. Skye found the perfect balance between fun for kids and evoking for adults.
Honestly, this is going to be a relatively s ...more
Wizard for Hire
By: Obert Skye
This book is a fantastic middle grade book! Full of scary adventure, fun and silly situations, unusual characters, tense moments, tender moments, and extraordinary moments! A boy's family is kidnapped and he is left alone in the Oregon wilderness! He has a house, food, books, and his brains. He lives there years until he decides he needs to find his parents. This is his story and how he ended up hiring a Wizard! Loads of crazy fun!
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By: Obert Skye
This book is a fantastic middle grade book! Full of scary adventure, fun and silly situations, unusual characters, tense moments, tender moments, and extraordinary moments! A boy's family is kidnapped and he is left alone in the Oregon wilderness! He has a house, food, books, and his brains. He lives there years until he decides he needs to find his parents. This is his story and how he ended up hiring a Wizard! Loads of crazy fun!
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I was fortunate to get an ARC of this book. There is much to like about Wizard for Hire. An engrossing read, it kept me turning the pages late into the night and during the days. Ozzy was left behind as a young boy after his parents were abducted in a secluded cabin in the Oregon woods. He's a smart kid and lives on his own in the middle of nowhere for years. This hook pulled me in right away, making me care about this kid and the strange circumstances he found himself in. There is heart and hum
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Comparisons of Wizard for Hire to Harry Potter would be very appropriate. Especially the first two Harry Potter books that are a little lighter next to the ones later in the series. Obert Skye takes us on a journey to follow a child who is left alone after his parents are taken away. There are some perhaps stretched imagination things that happen at first for our young boy to survive but I quickly got over any of those as I got caught up in the story.
Characters
The absolute best part of Wizard f ...more
Characters
The absolute best part of Wizard f ...more
Sep 21, 2020
Aly
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
2020,
contemporary,
middlegrade,
adventure,
fantasy,
mystery,
urban-fantasy,
audiobook,
september-2020
What a cute read! This was a lot of fun to read, it had an interesting mystery, a sarcastic sidekick, and a hilarious (possible) wizard. The story moved at a nice pace and Ozzy was sweet and someone I wanted to cheer on.
Ozzy's parents were kidnapped when he was seven, leaving him to raise himself for the next seven years. Luckily he discovered Clark, a mechanical bird with a narcissistic personality, who helps him look for clues and make friends at the local school. Then he comes across an ad f ...more
Ozzy's parents were kidnapped when he was seven, leaving him to raise himself for the next seven years. Luckily he discovered Clark, a mechanical bird with a narcissistic personality, who helps him look for clues and make friends at the local school. Then he comes across an ad f ...more
Wizard for Hire is funny, clever and full of heart. I love the way this author writes. There are subtle hints of cleverness, humor and mystery in the way he writes. I loved this book. Ozzy was a fantastic character, naive and trusting, but wonderful. Clark was an enjoyable and amusing addition. The most surprising character was Rin. I loved what he brought to this fun story. This book is very entertaining. Ozzy's determination was refreshing.
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A little bit quirrky and a lot of fun!
Its been 7 years since fourteen year-old Ozzy's parents disappeared. What really happened to them? Can Rin (aka Brian), a wizard help find them? Readers will question if Rin is really a wizard or not. They will find out how Ozzy survives on his own and learns the truth about his parents.
Those who liked Lemons, Aliens on Vacation or The Van Gogh Cafe when they were younger or teens who are looking for clean reads will want to give this one a try. ...more
Its been 7 years since fourteen year-old Ozzy's parents disappeared. What really happened to them? Can Rin (aka Brian), a wizard help find them? Readers will question if Rin is really a wizard or not. They will find out how Ozzy survives on his own and learns the truth about his parents.
Those who liked Lemons, Aliens on Vacation or The Van Gogh Cafe when they were younger or teens who are looking for clean reads will want to give this one a try. ...more
Oh man! What a bundle of fun this book was! Funny, magical, adventurous, you name it. I certainly hope this will be a series.
Soon after seven-year-old Ozzy moves with his parents to a cottage deep in the woods, some men appear, kidnap his parents, and leave Ozzy to die. But Ozzy doesn't die. Now, at fourteen, he's ready to find some answers.
With the help from a mechanical bird and a hired wizard, Ozzy sets out to crack the case on his missing parents.
First off, this book was hilarious. The wizar ...more
Soon after seven-year-old Ozzy moves with his parents to a cottage deep in the woods, some men appear, kidnap his parents, and leave Ozzy to die. But Ozzy doesn't die. Now, at fourteen, he's ready to find some answers.
With the help from a mechanical bird and a hired wizard, Ozzy sets out to crack the case on his missing parents.
First off, this book was hilarious. The wizar ...more
This was a fun book, with great characters and an interesting mix of mystery and almost-magic. I read it with my 8 year old twins and they really liked it.
This book is a hard one for me to rate and review. I am obviously not the age of the readers this book was written for. This book is written for a middle grade reader, but I think it would be better for an advanced middle grade reader and above.
I was impressed with the humor in this book. It is full of little quips that brought a smile to my face. There are other parts that are a hard to read about. As a seven year old, Ozzy was abandoned in the forest when his parents were forcefully taken away ...more
I was impressed with the humor in this book. It is full of little quips that brought a smile to my face. There are other parts that are a hard to read about. As a seven year old, Ozzy was abandoned in the forest when his parents were forcefully taken away ...more
4.5/5 stars
Many, many years ago, I read Obert Skye's Leven Thumps series, and it was my favorite series for a long time. (I'd recommend it if you haven't already read it!) So, when I heard Obert Skye had written another book, I knew I wanted to read it, even if I have definitely aged out of the target audience for this book.
Wizard for Hire was an exciting, wholesome book. Ozzy is on a mission to find his missing parents while trying to avoid the men that he knows took them. He is willing to do w ...more
Many, many years ago, I read Obert Skye's Leven Thumps series, and it was my favorite series for a long time. (I'd recommend it if you haven't already read it!) So, when I heard Obert Skye had written another book, I knew I wanted to read it, even if I have definitely aged out of the target audience for this book.
Wizard for Hire was an exciting, wholesome book. Ozzy is on a mission to find his missing parents while trying to avoid the men that he knows took them. He is willing to do w ...more
Do You Believe in Magic?
This is a sneaky, clever, and surprisingly funny wizard quest send up, but with unexpected heart. It's also about five books in one, which is a nice bonus.
We start with setup one. Young Ozzy has been taken by his mad genius parents to hide out in the deep woods outside Portland because the parents have invented something perilous and bad guys want it. One day the bad guys show up and kidnap the parents, leaving Ozzy alone and abandoned. Ozzy spends the next ten years at t ...more
This is a sneaky, clever, and surprisingly funny wizard quest send up, but with unexpected heart. It's also about five books in one, which is a nice bonus.
We start with setup one. Young Ozzy has been taken by his mad genius parents to hide out in the deep woods outside Portland because the parents have invented something perilous and bad guys want it. One day the bad guys show up and kidnap the parents, leaving Ozzy alone and abandoned. Ozzy spends the next ten years at t ...more
I thought going in that this was going to be much more fantastical than it ended up being. In fact, it may be up for debate whether there is even any magic in this book which is odd considering the title. But the author leaves it up to the reader to decide whether to believe Rin is really a wizard or not. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself. Rin is definitely an eccentric character, calling himself a wizard, running around in half a robe and a sorcerer's hat, along with his sneakers and j
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Spoiler free review also found here at Booked J. I was sent a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in the blog tour for the second book. This does not change my view in any shape or form.
Whimsical and a little darker than I'd originally imagined, Wizard for Hire is exactly the type of middle grade novel you should be reading. It is one of those books that serves as a reminder--you feel like a kid again as you read it; ...more
Spoiler free review also found here at Booked J. I was sent a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in the blog tour for the second book. This does not change my view in any shape or form.
Whimsical and a little darker than I'd originally imagined, Wizard for Hire is exactly the type of middle grade novel you should be reading. It is one of those books that serves as a reminder--you feel like a kid again as you read it; ...more
I feel like I've been duped by this one. It presents itself as a YA fantasy book where a boy hangs out with a Wizard who solves problems with magic. That's not how it goes down AT ALL. We're promised fantasy, and handed magical realism. Had I been reading this by myself, I would have put it down and walked away about a third of the way in and not looked back. I read it with my 10 year old, who really enjoyed it, despite the book's flaws. The book opens with 7 year old Ozzy being left alone after
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This is a book I have been waiting to get my hands on since I loved the Leven Thumps series. The author did not disappoint me with this quirky book about a seven year old boy whose parents are kidnapped, leaving him alone in the family cabin in the Oregon woods. Fast forward a few years when Ozzy finds a mechanical, solar-charged, raven who is self-aware and talks. Clark the raven becomes Ozzy's best friend and persuades him to venture out of his isolation. That decision leads Ozzy to Labyrinth,
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I hadn't read anything by this author before, but was pleasantly surprised by how easy this book was to read and interested in where the story would go.
There was a lot of humor and excitement and even some deeper moments of apology and loss mixed in with a bunch of breakfast and a talking metal bird.
It was interesting to me that the wizard wasn't introduced until a quarter of the way through the book. I expected that to happen quite a bit sooner. I loved how they just kept adding to the strange ...more
There was a lot of humor and excitement and even some deeper moments of apology and loss mixed in with a bunch of breakfast and a talking metal bird.
It was interesting to me that the wizard wasn't introduced until a quarter of the way through the book. I expected that to happen quite a bit sooner. I loved how they just kept adding to the strange ...more
This book was good! Unfortunately, I think it's just not the kind of thing I'm ever going to be super jazzed up by. Ozzy was sympathetic, there was a lot of humor, the "is-he-a-wizard-or-just-a-crazy-man" mystery with Labyrinth, etc.... All of it was fine, but I've never done well with absurdity, and too much craziness crowded out my ability to care about the characters.
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This book was fun! The characters are all so well developed, and some are very quirky and endearing. I would give five stars, but I felt it was missing a little more on the information side. It was a slow build to a quick end and I still felt like I didn't have many more answers than I had at the beginning.
And while I love the wizard's character, his continual dodges at actually giving a straight answer can be so maddening at times.
All in all, a fun and unexpected read. Looking forward to mor ...more
And while I love the wizard's character, his continual dodges at actually giving a straight answer can be so maddening at times.
All in all, a fun and unexpected read. Looking forward to mor ...more
This was such a great book. Our main Character Ozzy and his family move to Portland, Oregon to to live in the solitude of the mountains. The first day Ozzy is allowed to go behind the cabin by himself to the little river, he hears screaming.
He runs back to the house in time to see people dressed in green taking his parents away. Ozzy was only 7 years old. He was so scared and alone, but quickly learned how to take care of himself. Seven years after his parents go missing, Ozzy finds an interesti ...more
He runs back to the house in time to see people dressed in green taking his parents away. Ozzy was only 7 years old. He was so scared and alone, but quickly learned how to take care of himself. Seven years after his parents go missing, Ozzy finds an interesti ...more
This book was captivating! I took it to an event I knew I was going to have to wait a bit at, that I went to with my daughter. By the time the event was over, we had both read about half of it.
I love the way that this book sucks you in from the very first page. I loved Ozzy and I felt so sad for him when his parents were taken away from him. I can't even imagine leaving a 7 year old to face the world alone. I knew as a parent how I would feel if this were what had happened to me and it kept me ...more
I love the way that this book sucks you in from the very first page. I loved Ozzy and I felt so sad for him when his parents were taken away from him. I can't even imagine leaving a 7 year old to face the world alone. I knew as a parent how I would feel if this were what had happened to me and it kept me ...more
When Ozzy was seven, his scientist parents suddenly packed up and left New York for a cabin deep in the Oregon wilderness. Not long after, the cabin was raided by men in green who kidnapped Ozzy's parents and left Ozzy for dead. Thus Ozzy grew up alone, living off the canned food his parents had stored in the basement, and listening to cassette tapes he found hidden, with strange stories of normal people who suddenly did inexplicable things--inexplicable even to them. At some point, Ozzy finds C
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I think that Mr Skye has hit this one out of the park! There is a perfect amount of absurdity, reality, comedy, action and fantasy (although I’m still wondering about the fantasy part. Is it there?). It had me laughing out loud and glued to the story all the way to the end. It could well be a stand alone book, but I hope not. I hope that we get to read more adventures with Ozzy, Clark, Rin and Sigi. Keep going Mr. Skye! You have a winner here.
I was really excited to see a new book from this author, and I jumped at the opportunity to review it. This captivating book had me turning the pages well into the night. I loved getting to know Ozzy as well as his robotic bird. Rin is a fantastic character but as the book moves on, he has me wondering who he truly is. I hope Skye does another one to help us know the true nature of Rin better. I would highly recommend this book to anyone of any age who loves a magical adventure.
I enjoyed the uniqueness of this story. I made the mistake of reading the first chapter to my 6 and 7 year old, but after chapter one decided that I needed to find out what happens before I decide if I will continue reading this to them. I decided upon finishing that I will wait a few years. Great read. There may have been some tears.
Clever and highly entertaining. Clark was brilliant and hilarious and Rin was just mysterious enough to keep me wondering. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
When I want to read something happy and cheerful I always go for mid-grade fantasy and it never failed me. So this pattern worked for this book incredibly well!
Though the story wasn't what I expected it turned out to be even better.
I've been really captivated from the very beginning and curious, so many questions were in my head (which is a rare thing for me as I read a lot and can already predict lots of story patterns). Some parts were unpredictable and interesting to learn, the story was nice ...more
Though the story wasn't what I expected it turned out to be even better.
I've been really captivated from the very beginning and curious, so many questions were in my head (which is a rare thing for me as I read a lot and can already predict lots of story patterns). Some parts were unpredictable and interesting to learn, the story was nice ...more
Listened to this on audio with all the kids during all of our road trips this summer. We all enjoyed it! On Ozzy’s quest to find his parents he encounters all sorts of individuals and sees the good and bad in the world. The kids are still talking about it and wondering if there will be any other books to continue the series.
“You look at me and see a wizard. I look at everything and see magic.”
“You look at me and see a wizard. I look at everything and see magic.”
This book was so much fun to read! Very different from what I expected but so good! I've been waiting for new books from obert Skye ever since I read choke and pillage! Cannot wait to read the next 2!
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Jun 16, 2018
Cara
marked it as dnf
I just couldn't make it past 45%.
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Obert Skye read his first book at age two. He wrote his first story at age four. And he was nearly trampled by a herd of water buffalo at age six. For a short time, he lived on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, where he spent time as a candy-taster. Several years ago, Obert Skye says, he discovered the existence of Foo. Publishing his story as a fictional series was not Obert’s first choice. Neverthel
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Wizard for Hire
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