Before we disappear
(Book)

Fifteen-year-old Jack and sixteen-year-old Wilhelm, assistants to--and captives of--rival magicians, fall in love against the backdrop of Seattle's 1908 world's fair, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.

Jack Nevin's clever trickery and moral flexibility make him the perfect assistant to the Enchantress, one of the most well-known stage magicians in early-twentieth-century Europe. Jack's steady supply of stolen tricks and copycat sleight-of-hand illusions keep the Enchantress's fame from burning out. Forced to flee the continent, they find a new audience in Seattle at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific World's Fair Exposition. Then a new magician arrives, and Laszlo's act threatens to overshadow the Enchantress. Jack discovers that what makes Laszlo's tricks possible is Wilhelm, a boy whose abilities defy all the laws of physics. Jack and Wilhelm have near-instant connection. Soon Jack has to choose between the woman who gave him a life and the boy who is offering him love. -- adapted from jacket

Ages 14 up.,HarperCollins.

Grades 10-12.,HarperCollins.