SOLVED. Children's book involving magic act for talent show [s]

[InYourFaceNewYorker]

There is a book I read in 4th grade that came out in the late '80s or early '90s. I think it was a Scholastic paperback. It involved kids doing a magic act for a talent show. During tryouts, they were going to saw a Teddy Bear in half. One character was supposed to catch the bear through a trap door so they wouldn't REALLY saw it in half. But the trap door was stuck and one of the kids ended up really sawing the bear in half.

There was another part (or maybe it was a different book? I'm not sure) where one character sneaks into her friend's house while the friend is supposed to be gone. But the friend is sick so the girl has to hide in her friend's closet just a few feet away.

Does this book (or these books) sound familiar to anybody?

Thanks

[Kelly]

The Teddy Bear Habit, by James Lincoln Collier?

It's been years since I read it, but I think there's a magic act and a teddy bear that get sawed in half. It originally came out in the 60s though. There's a sequel as well, but I couldn't find the title with a quick search.

The other author I thought of from your summary was Gordon Korman...but I couldn't find one that matched your description.

[Kris]

The Teddy Bear Habit by James Lincoln Collier - Kelly's suggestion

[InYourFaceNewYorker]

Nope, not that book Kris.

[InYourFaceNewYorker]

I hope someone can help me... I remember really liking this book. I remember that the cover showed the kids on stage doing magic. Something was going wrong (I forget what, it wasn't the Teddy bear incident) and one girl has her arms folded and she looks annoyed.

[Ayshe]

The Amazing Valvano and the Mystery of the Hooded Rat by Mary Robinson maybe?

From the Kirkus review: Maria Valvano is convinced that she's going to be the hit of the school talent show with her magic act; her tricks will culminate in sawing a rabbit (actually Lester the rat in a bunny suit that she's made) in half. But before rehearsals are well under way, someone mysteriously steals Lester and the props. Joey and Maxine, Maria's assistants, help track down the several suspects, all of whom would like the act to fail; in the process, Maria learns humility--and a lot about herself.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

Snippet from the google book: I silenced the class with: "The night of the show I'm going to saw a rabbit in half." I held up my teddy bear. "Today I'm sawing this bear." The class cheered again. "You must bring the rabbit to the audition next Wednesday," said Sister Margaret. I put the teddy bear in the box. While I tightened the straps, Joey was supposed to open the secret panel in back, remove the teddy bear from the box, and put him in the magician's hat that Maxine was holding behind the table out of sight of the audience. "The panel's stuck," he whispered. "I can't get him out." "What'll we do?" Maxine forced a smile."

[InYourFaceNewYorker]

YES, YES that's it!!!! Thanks! Am I correct that it also has a scene where one character hides in her friend's closet?

[Ayshe]

InYourFaceNewYorker wrote: "YES, YES that's it!!!! Thanks! Am I correct that it also has a scene where one character hides in her friend's closet?"
Great! I haven't read it, so I can't tell, but searching inside the google book for "closet" it appears the narrator and Joey hid in some Mary Louise's closet.

[InYourFaceNewYorker]

I think that is it! Thanks! If you haven’t read it how did you know what book I was talking about?

[Ayshe]

You're welcome. I searched for saw Teddy Bear half subject:"juvenile fiction" in Google Books and that was the first result. I then googled the book and it seemed likely.

[InYourFaceNewYorker]

Wow. I Googled in so many different ways and it didn't come up.

[InYourFaceNewYorker]

BTW I can't see more than a couple sentences at a time of this book, let alone the entire paragraph that you saw. Any idea why?
Ayshe wrote: "The Amazing Valvano and the Mystery of the Hooded Rat by Mary Robinson maybe?

From the Kirkus review: Maria Valvano is convinced that she's going to be the hit of ..."

[Ayshe]

That's intentional for snippet view: https://books.google.com/intl/com/goo... I found the paragraph in search.

[InYourFaceNewYorker]

So how do I look at that passage? When I click nothing happens. It works with other books I search for, however.

[Ayshe]

Go to google books and search for part of the passage in quotes, like "night of the show I'm going to saw a rabbit in half"?

[InYourFaceNewYorker]

I did. The results come up and there's a little preview of like two sentences but I can't see more than that for some reason.

[Ayshe]

I see: "I silenced the class with: "The night of the show I'm going to saw a rabbit in half." I held up my teddy bear. "Today I'm sawing this bear." The class cheered again. "You must bring the rabbit to the audition next Wednesday," said Sister Margaret. I put the teddy bear in the box. While I tightened the straps, Joey was supposed to open the secret panel in back, remove the teddy bear from the box, and put him in the magician's hat that Maxine was holding behind the table out of sight of the" in the results (if you search for another part, you may see bit more).

If I go to the book from there, I see only a snippet, too. I think that's intended - copyright/agreements with publishers reasons.

[InYourFaceNewYorker]

Yeah, I searched for a number of parts. Same deal. Not sure how you managed to get entire paragraphs. Oh well. I put it on hold at the library so I guess in a few days I'll see everything again. Thanks again. :)