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Sidney Fleischman (1920 to 2010) was born in Brooklyn, New York and moved with his family when he was two years old to San Diego, California. He had loved magic tricks ever since he was a young boy and maintained that interest all his life. He was a journalist and author of books for adults. In 1962, he drew on his fondness for magic tricks to write Mr. Mysterious and Company, his first of many successful novels for children. His novels are known for their quirky characters, light-hearted humor, and emphasis on, and the importance of, families. Fleischman won the 1987 Newbery Medal for his book, The Whipping Boy. It is interesting that his son (he had three children) Paul Fleischman followed him into the world of children's books. They are the only parent and child who have both been awarded the Newbery Medal. Paul won for his book of poetry for children, Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, which was written to be read aloud by two people.
Mr. Mysterious and Company is a warm-hearted early middle school-level novel that follows the fortunes of Pa, Mother, Jane, Paul, and little Anne as they cross the American west in their wagon, leading their cow, Madame Sweetpea, behind them. All that sounds similar to something like Little House on the Prairie - well, not exactly. Pa’s stage name is Mr. Mysterious, a skilled magician, and his older children, Jane and Paul, help him in the act, when they are not busy being homeschooled by Mother. They have light-hearted adventures with robbers, stray dogs, and the different people who come to see their act in each small town that they pass through. The obvious affection that the family members have for each other adds much to the story.
Chancy and the Grand Rascal is set, initially in Ohio, a few years after the Civil War. Chancy lost his father in the Civil War, with his mother dying shortly thereafter. The four orphans, Chancy, Indiana, Jamie, and Mirandy, were soon split up, since the only adult relative that they had was Uncle Will Buckthorn, their mother’s brother, and nobody knew where he was or if he was even alive. After a few years, Chancy sets out to find his brother and sisters and make them a family again. Soon his quest is aided by the Grand Rascal – his Uncle Will, who is alive and looking for his nieces and nephews. They have many lighthearted adventures in riverboats, rafts, and dealing with con men and baby chickens before they finish their quest. The story is enlivened by many tall tales – this was the era of tall tales, which no one believed but the grander and more exaggerated, the better. Davy Crockett, who lived near this time, was also a teller of tall tales. This book really shows the author’s emphasis on family – in this case, in rebuilding a broken family that had been scattered across the western United States. Chancy and the Grand Rascal is a lot of fun to read.
Jingo Django tells the adventures, from his first-person point of view, of Jingo Hawks, an orphan in Boston in a very bad orphanage, run by a greedy, selfish woman named Mrs. Daggart. Jingo’s father abandoned him there when he was only five years old. He incurs the anger of her and her accomplice when forced to cooperate with one of their nefarious schemes. Mr. Peacock rescues him, pays off Mrs. Daggart, and they go on a quest all the way to Matamoros, Mexico, to find a buried treasure, pursued all the way by Mrs. Daggart. Jingo discovers that he has gypsy heritage and that his real name is Django. There is great humor in this quest, much of it revolving around the resourcefulness of Mr. Peacock. His way of making money, honestly, by using his talent as an artist is one of the most clever I have ever seen. Adventures, light-hearted humor, and a satisfying ending involving Fleischman’s main theme of all his books – the importance of finding a family.