A Strange Case Of Magic

Barnes and The Brains #2

by Kenneth Oppel

When Giles, Tina and Kevin see books moving in the library all by themselves, they know they have to investigate. But Tina’s amazing ghostometer doesn’t pick up any ghosts, so what could that mysterious presence be?

Genres: Canada, Chapter Books

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

I was born in 1967 in Port Alberni, a mill town on Vancouver Island, British Columbia but spent the bulk of my childhood in Victoria, B.C. and on the opposite coast, in Halifax, Nova Scotia...At around twelve I decided I wanted to be a writer (this came after deciding I wanted to be a scientist, and then an architect). I started out writing sci-fi epics (my Star Wars phase) then went on to swords and sorcery tales (my Dungeons and Dragons phase) and then, during the summer holiday when I was fourteen, started on a humorous story about a boy addicted to video games (written, of course, during my video game phase). It turned out to be quite a long story, really a short novel, and I rewrote it the next summer. We had a family friend who knew Roald Dahl - one of my favourite authors - and this friend offered to show Dahl my story. I was paralysed with excitement. I never heard back from Roald Dahl directly, but he read my story, and liked it enough to pass on to his own literary agent. I got a letter from them, saying they wanted to take me on, and try to sell my story. And they did.

Reviews

[melhara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun story about Giles, Tina and Kevin investigating a ghost at the library, only to find out that it wasn't a ghost who's been checking out library books, but an invisible magician who's trapped in his invisible form! Together, they help the magician reappear and become visible again.

I wasn't a big fan of Tina (and her patronizing attitude), but overall, this was a fun and unique story.

----------------------------------------------
Part of a personal challenge to read all of my boyfriend's and his sister's childhood books before we donate and give them away.

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this second book, Barnes is waiting to meet the Brains at the Library. Barnes is friends with two child geniuses, Kevin and Tina Quark - Tina being the more academic of the two, and a little bit less personable. While in the library stacks looking for books for Tina for her latest project - experiment Barnes sees a stack of books floating and sees another one come off the shelf and be flipped through. He finds the Quarks and shows them what he has discovered. Tina thinks it is a ghost, Barnes is not so sure. Once they discover what is really going on, will Tina's science solve the problem, or will Barnes' more practical common sense approach save the day again? You will need to read it to find out.

Harper Collins, is currently republishing the original six books in this series. These books were previously published between 1994 and 2004 by Scholastic. The books intended for young readers are good, fun reads. Barnes & the Brains books will easily be enjoyed by youth and their parents, or youth of all ages. Yet we can only hope that more books will soon come out in this grand series.

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books that pile themselves up and fly out of a library. That is the start of a new adventure of the Quark geniuses and their honoray genius-friend Giles. An invisible magician and a very much disturbed librarian form the other participants in this funny story. Honorary mention for the parents of the Quark brother and sister who discover which utensils Tina has dismantled to build one of her devices.
Very funny again, the creepy parts not creepy at all because of the way Kenneth Opel tells this story.
Tina is the recognized genius, het brother a lesser genius and Giles is seen as having a very small brain (by Tina). When Tina tries to solve the problem by means of a very complex device and fails, Giles comes up with a simple but efficient solution.
The stores in this series are fairly short, incredibly funny and great for bed-time reading.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bland. Nice. How to be good newly met neighbor. Kevin in comic relief sneezes from dusty old library books.

Giles learns magic to help Kapoor reappear in show finale. Friends are like Goldilocks, tiny Tina has too much confidence, she berates Kevin for too little brain.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tina Quark has enlisted the help of her brother, Kevin, and Giles Barnes to locate some books for her at the library for her latest invention. Of course, they end up in the basement in a dusty old room, where no one would ever want to read these ancient tomes. While searching Giles sees books floating and Tina checks her trusty ghostometer but does not get a single ghostly reading. If not a ghost, then why are magic books floating? "It's just me" replies a voice and Barnes & The Brains now match science and wit to figure out how to help poor Mr. Kapoor, beginner magician who made himself invisible and can't reverse the spell. Totally independent from the first book, though it does briefly mention events from that book. This book also gives a quick rundown on the characters and their status for those who haven't read the first book. I really enjoyed this one, even more than book 1 (Ghosts). The introduction of the bored librarian who was excited to help them in any small capacity was funny and she had some giggle inducing lines. I'm attached to the characters and I can see some growth in their relationship. Another well-written, unique plot and highly recommended first chapter book from Oppel. I look forward to reading book 3.