From the author of the bestselling Secret Series comes this funny chapter-book mystery about a third-grade magician and the wisecracking rabbit who is the secret brains behind his act.

Eight-year-old Oliver dreams of being a professional magician, even though he has terrible stage fright. And now, his friends Teenie and Bea have gotten him invited to a classmate's birthday party as the paid entertainment! Desperate for help, he visits The Great Zoocheeni's Magic Emporium, but comes away with nothing more than a moth-eaten top hat.

Oliver is in for a lucky surprise, though. Inside that top hat hides a wisecracking rabbit named Benny, who agrees to help Oliver with his act. But at the party, Oliver is accused of robbery! He'll need to solve the mystery of the missing robo-cat to clear his name before he and Benny can amaze the crowd with their grand finale. "The author pulls out a late twist, slips in line drawings (some partly in color) on almost every page, and, for a final flourish, closes with a description of the trickand suggestions for patter. No abracadabra needed to make this disappear from the shelves." —Booklist

"[A] raucous series opener . . . Portrayed in Pangburn's peppy cartoons, unremitting slapstick scenarios augment the comedy, as do puns, miscommunications, and Bosch's cheeky, meddling narration." —Publisher's Weekly 

"With a talking rabbit on the lam, this amusing story of friendship, failure, and success (and an erupting candy volcano) neatly slips in vocabulary along the way. Readers shouldn't have so much ridiculous fun with a book as they do with this one." —Kirkus Review