Some Kind of Magic by Adrian Fogelin

Standalone. Peachtree Publishers (April 2015) NetGalley

It's the summer before high school starts for Cass, Jemmie, Ben, and Justin, the neighborhood kids readers met in Crossing Jordan. Ben worries the break will be routine, until his little brother Cody finds a hat left by their missing uncle. The hat leads them to a lost house in the woods. They don't suspect the house with a tragic past might nudge them toward the future.

                                          


I feel like the cover and the title of this story was kind of misleading or like I usually do -- I expected something completely different. The "magic" in Some Kind of Magic comes from an old hat from a missing uncle. Cody, who's almost seven and shares a birthday with his uncle, gets his brother and his brother's friends along on an adventure. Their adventure starts with following where Cody's new hat leads them -- to an abandoned home. It ends up revealing a truth from the past and guiding the friends towards a summer that will change their lives forever.

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Cody is the sweet, rule following, hat wearing one in the group. Ben is his older brother who is tired of his little brother hanging around and the one everyone follows. His girlfriend Cass is caring and isn't afraid of keeping up with the boys. Neither is her best friend, Jemmie, who is always up for a challenge and talented at sports. Justin, the final member of the group, is a talented pianist whose skills on the piano hasn't given him the courage to tell Jemmie how she feels.

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The different POV's were a bit unorganized. I had trouble keeping track of them. That was the downside of the story. The upside is that after getting used to where the story was taking me, I got swept up with the mystery of it all. This had more mystery than magic, but this story of friends ended up being tearjerking even if it wasn't perfect. I think that knowing that this is more of a middle-grade read and that this story is more about mystery and friendship will set you up with a good experience.

Thanks to NetGalley and Peachtree Publishers for allowing me to read Some Kind of Magic in exchange for an honest review!

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