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Magic in the Alley
Magic in the Alley | Mary Calhoun
3 posts | 2 read | 1 to read
Cleery finds a box with seven magic items in it and even though the magic is soon spent it brings three friends something of value.
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TheAromaofBooks
Magic in the Alley | Mary Calhoun
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I loved this book growing up, and it definitely encouraged my ongoing love affair with alleys 😂 I hadn't read this one in several years, and it was super fun to revisit. Cleery buys a box of magic at a flea market, and accidentally magics a stuffed crow into being alive - and able to talk - but not able to fly. With an enchantment of being able to find something magical in every new alley she visits that summer, she and her best friend set off ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) to find a cure for Crow. This is just a cute, fun book with little adventures in every chapter. Thoroughly enjoyable.

#100YearsofBooks
#ISpyBingo #BookSpinBingo
#GottaCatchEmAll - Someone Loses Control @PuddleJumper
#Read2025 @DieAReader
3d
PuddleJumper 👏 👏 3d
MaGoose I never read this one when I was younger. I'll have to make up for that and track down a copy, either at the library or the bookstore. Sounds very interesting. 3d
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tpixie How lovely. I loved Edgar Eager books! Half- Magic & (edited) 3d
TheAromaofBooks @MaGoose - It's nothing fancy, just a super fun little MG story!! 3d
TheAromaofBooks @tpixie - Yes!! This was published later (1970) than his books, but it has a very similar vibe. 3d
TiredLibrarian That look of old children's library books ❤️ 3d
tpixie @TiredLibrarian yes!!! 🩵🩵🩵 3d
tpixie @TheAromaofBooks 💙💙💙 I‘ll need to write it down to remember to fund for my grandkids 3d
DieAReader 💖💖💖 3d
LeahBergen Oooh, you‘ve reminded me that this is on my “hunt down” list! 😆 2d
willaful @LeahBergen @MaGoose Unfortunately, it's quite hard to find because it never made it into paperback. :-( My husband once literally xeroxed and bound it for me! Check the Internet Archive. 2d
MaGoose @willaful Thanks, that's good to know. I'll be diligent about finding a copy. 2d
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willaful
Magic in the Alley | Mary Calhoun
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One of my most obscure old favorites, because it never made it into paperback. (The library journal reviews weren't great, which makes me long for magic so I could go back in time and smack some heads.) It includes a series of many different kinds of magical adventures -- mermaids, pixies, witches -- but the chapter featuring a lonely ghost girl is truly... haunting.

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Aimeesue
Magic in the Alley | Mary Calhoun
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Thanks to @willaful for posting about this one. It‘s out of print (and used copies will run you about a hundred bucks,) but a digitized copy is available to borrow on Open Library.
It‘s a delightful book, and should not be lost to the whims of waning popularity and the ravages of time on physical objects.

Ruthiella I‘ve not read this, but I wish I were immensely wealthy so I could fund a revival of bringing these older children‘s books back in print. Maybe with Levar Burton helping with publicity. 😍 1y
Aimeesue @Ruthiella oh, wouldn‘t that be fabulous? Even if in ebook form initially, like Furrowed Middlebrow. 1y
Ruthiella Well, because this is my fantasy, I publish them all in hardcover, with the original illustrations and covers. 🤩 (edited) 1y
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Aimeesue @Ruthiella I will buy them ALL! 😍 1y
Ruthiella @Aimeesue I want to start with the Melendy family books by Elizabeth Enright..though they are actually still in print, I think 1y
Aimeesue @Ruthiella I‘ve never read them! I looked them up and they are still in print and sound WONDERFUL! 1y
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