Title: Wizard for Hire

Author: Obert Skye

Series: Wizard for Hire #1 (BN.com has it listed as a series, but Goodreads doesn’t… we’ll see)

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: 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 “Wizard for Hire. Call 555-SPEL.” Ozzy has read about wizards in books like Harry Potter, but wizards couldn’t actually exist today, could they? After Ozzy meets the wizard Labyrinth–aka Rin–he’s even more skeptical... -Goodreads

The Review:

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 short review. I don’t want to get into specifics about what still has me reeling a few days after finishing the book because it’s an essential discovery component to the story and I don’t want to lessen the experience for anyone. Suffice to say that I really appreciate what I think the author was trying to do and I personally found a lot more to take away from the story than I ever expected to from a middle grade book. My only holdup was that the story didn’t take the shape I was expecting, and as odd as it sounds I kind of feel the loss of what could have been. Even so, I’m far from being disappointed with the end result.

Recommendations: I’d hand this to slightly older middle graders / young teens. It has a few somewhat bleak moments. As an adult reading it, I definitely think it’s a great pick if your in the mood for something light and maybe a little surprising. :)

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Nik’s Notes: Y’all know I’ve been geeking out about the cover for months. Shadow Mountain is one of my favorite publishers because they always have quality writers, great stories, and killer covers (to name a few of the reasons I respect them so much). I’m just going to throw it out there that my ambition as a writer is to get a series accepted and published by them. It’s good to have goals. :)

by Niki Hawkes