Review by Moira Young
Orca Book Publishers, 2021
128 pages, Paperback, CAD 10.95, 9781459828070
Middle Grade, Ages 9-12
Fiction
“’For one, your costume choice seems wrong. A suit jacket? That’s for classic magicians like Blackstone. You should wear something that fits who you are. You know, like a dress. Maybe something sparkly,’ Peter said. ‘And it wouldn’t hurt to put your hair up. You want to look pretty for your audience, dear.’
I gritted my teeth and resisted telling him what I thought about his ‘advice.’ I wanted a spot in the show, but this guy was unbelievable.”
Everyone wants to have their moment in the spotlight. Marty Chan’s middle-grade fiction novel Kylie the Magnificent tells the story of fourteen-year-old Kylie who desperately wants to be included in this year’s magician showcase. When Peter, the club director, tells Kylie she is better suited as a magician’s assistant because she’s a girl, Kylie is determined to prove him wrong. Kylie teams up with her best friend and fellow magician Min, and the two begin practicing an elaborate Houdini act that should amaze Peter and secure them a spot in the showcase. While working on their act, Min’s social anxieties surface and Kylie loses sight of what it means to be a good friend. Tired of being mistreated, Min leaves Kylie and teams up with another magician. Will the two friends be able to make up in time, or will they miss their chance to get their ‘wow’ moment?
Although the beginning chapters make it seem that Kylie the Magnificent is a novel all about girl power and feminism, it quickly evolves into a book about friendship. Chan adeptly illustrates the harsh reality of friendship issues in a fast-moving plot that shows the highs and lows of working through challenges. The short chapters and accessible language told from the protagonist’s perspective, Kylie, simultaneously engage readers and allow them insight into how being a young girl in a male-dominated field can feel.
Kylie is bold, humorous, and mischievous and feels most comfortable in front of a live audience. In contrast, Min is more reserved and self-conscious, an impressive young magician still working on his stage presence. Even though Kylie and Min are complete opposites, Chan depicts them as two sides of the same coin with their shared love for magic. Although Kylie is usually Min’s top supporter, when she feels threatened by his magic skills and that maybe she should be the assistant after all, she pushes Min into situations he isn’t comfortable with and ultimately puts her goals before their friendship. Although the novel makes it hard to imagine that the friends-turned-enemies will be able to make amends with one another, Chan thoughtfully highlights one of the many challenges of navigating young friendship: that the consequences of your actions might unintentionally affect the ones you care about most. Ultimately, Kylie and Min’s dynamic captures a realistic representation of friendship and personal growth.
Kylie the Magnificent is an engaging and accessible story that all types of readers can enjoy. It discusses essential themes like friendship, bullying, and inequality through its realistic setting and colourful characters. Kylie the Magnificent offers an excellent stepping stone into the broad themes of feminism in a way that is absorbable and gentle for a younger audience. For fans of a girl-power narrative akin to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente, or for fans of the complex narrative friendship of The Undercover Book List by Colleen Nelson, Chan conjures a vibrant novel that offers something for all readers to appreciate. In the end, Kylie the Magnificent shows audiences that the most extraordinary form of magic is true friendship.
Moira Young is an undergraduate at UBC Vancouver, majoring in English Literature and minoring in Creative Writing. She is passionate about writing and the art of storytelling.
YOUNG ADULTING 