The Amazing Harry Kellar -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

"A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author."  ~ G. K. Chesterton ~

A gift for my writer friends:

 Here are a couple of links I think you will find valuable.

Kristen Lamb’s blog is always worth checking out. She is a very funny lady. This post is on Social Media: http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/3-social-media-myths-that-can-cripple-our-author-platform/

Good post on whether to write a stand alone book vs. a series: http://jamigold.com/2012/11/series-vs-stand-alone-what-should-we-work-on-next/

For my fabulous giveaway, the winner is Janet Smart! (Cue the whistling and foot stomping please!) Congratulations, Janet. Please send me your snail mail address at rosihollinbeck (at) yahoo (dot) com. I will be sending you an autographed hard-cover copy of Tony Gold and the Secret Fortune. It is a most interesting read. I have another giveaway for today, so stay tuned.

A couple months ago, I reviewed a wonderful book for the Sacramento Book Review – the fascinating and beautiful book called The Amazing Harry Kellar – Great American Magician by Gail Jarrow. A couple of weeks after I had written and turned in the review, I went to Pennsylvania for a writer’s retreat with editor Carolyn Yoder, put on by the Highlights Foundation. Every retreat includes visiting authors, and while I was there, Gail Jarrow stopped by. She is a lovely and generous person, and she spent an evening with us talking about her writing process and chatting for a couple of hours. Go to her author page by clicking HERE. She has written several wonderful books. Below is my review just as it ran in the Sacramento Book Review. I gave the book five stars, and I wished I had more than five to give.

When children are assigned biographies for their literature classes, this is the one they will all fight for in the library. In fact, children of all ages, from eight to eighty, will love this fascinating story of Harry Kellar, arguably the greatest magician America has ever produced. This is also a story of great perseverance and focus. Harry Kellar was on his own by the time he was eleven years old. After seeing his first magic show, he became fascinated. When Harry found out the magician he had seen – the Fakir of Ava – was running an ad for an assistant, Harry made his way to Buffalo, New York, to apply for the job. He got the job and was on his way. He traveled the world, learning from the best magicians, figuring out or buying the very best illusions and tricks, and learning how to run the business of being a magician. It wasn’t long before he was one of the most famous magicians, not just in America, but in the world.

“In this illusion, Kellar sat on a chair in the middle of the stage. While the audience watched – some horrified – he lifted his head from his body. As his head floated away, it smiled and nodded. Then it disappeared.”

This amazing book is also one of the most beautiful biographies ever printed. Wonderful photographs and the lush posters Harry Kellar created for his shows support the story.

Gail Jarrow

You might win a hard-cover copy of this gorgeous book. I will put your name in my proverbial hat. Link this post on your blog or Facebook or Tweet about it, let me know, and your name will be entered twice.

For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday books, See Shannon Messenger's blog by clicking HERE.

On the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not be shared with anyone.