Hand-Me-Down Magic #1: Stoop Sale Treasure

by Corey Ann Haydu, Luisa Uribe (Illustrator)

Overview

Brimming with adorable illustrations and short, easy-to-read chapters, this is the first book in the popular Hand-Me-Down Magic series, perfect for fans of Ivy and Bean and Dory Fantasmagory!

DEL loves LOTS of things! The Curious Cousins Secondhand Shoppe. Ginormous family dinners. And of course, her best-friend-cousin, Alma.

ALMA loves her abuelita’s tasty empanadas. Her old home by the lake. And soon, she’ll love living in the same place as her best-friend-cousin, Del.  

Yet despite having Del by her side, Alma isn’t quite sure she fits in with their family at 86 ½ Twenty-Third Avenue. It’s a new life and it’s all so different. When Del finds a special item at a neighbor’s stoop sale, she gets so excited by the magic luck it brings—but doesn’t see that it’s driving the two best friends apart. Will family, friendship, and maybe a little everyday magic be enough to make things right again? 

Corey Ann Haydu’s writing is filled with tender moments, wholesome humor, and magical detail—reminiscent of literary icons like Beverly Clearly, Marla Frazee, and Katherine Applegate. This chapter book series is pitch perfect for kids reading at this young level. And Luisa Uribe's stunning black-and-white illustrations capture the warmth and unique personality of each character.

Enjoy the whole series:

• Hand-Me-Down Magic #1: Stoop Sale Treasure
• Hand-Me-Down Magic #2: Crystal Ball Fortunes
• Hand-Me-Down Magic #3: Perfect Patchwork Purse
• Hand-Me-Down Magic #4: Mysterious Tea Set

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062978257
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/16/2020
Series:	Hand-Me-Down Magic , #1
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,162,117
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Corey Ann Haydu is the author of The Widely Unknown Myth of Apple & Dorothy, Eventown, Rules for Stealing Stars, One Jar of Magic, The Someday Suitcase, and the Hand-Me-Down-Magic chapter book series as well as six acclaimed books for teens. Currently she is a proud faculty member of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in writing for children program. Corey grew up in the Boston area, earned her MFA at the New School, and now lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughters. Find out more at coreyannhaydu.com. 

Luisa Uribe is an illustrator and designer of children’s media. Her art has been selected for Iberoamérica Ilustra, a catalog showcasing the best work by Spanish-speaking illustrators. She was awarded the Society of Illustrators Dilys Evans Founder’s Award for The Vast Wonder of the World. She lives in Bogotá, Colombia, with her partner and cat. You can find more of her wonderful art at www.luisauribe.com.

Editorial Reviews

Haydu, author of OCD Love Story and other compelling works, offers a pleasing setup in this first volume of a new series. Reading is swift and accessible, broken up by copious cheerful illustrations, and youngsters will long to share in the cousins’ idyllic family life while understanding the pitfalls of propinquity.”  — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"A nuanced look at the girls’ friendship, emotions, and motivations. A transitional chapter book with unusual depth, good pacing, and a loving, supportive Latinx family. Libraries should find space on their shelves for this new series." — Booklist

"This series debut is a sweet tale about friendship, family, and being the new kid on the block... The line-drawing illustrations throughout give a glimpse of the street where the girls live... Put this book in the hands of kids who enjoy series like Annie Barrows’s “Ivy and Bean” or  Megan McDonald’s “Judy Moody.”" — School Library Journal

Praise for Eventown: “A wonderful and inventive story about being a kid in an imperfect world—beautiful, mysterious, and deeply satisfying.” — Rebecca Stead, author of When You Reach Me and Goodbye Stranger

★ “At once enchanting, heart-rending, and bittersweet.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

★ “An emotionally complex and wonderfully told story.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

★ “[A] thought-provoking novel... [A] memorable and brave heroine.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Praise for The Someday Suitcase:
★ “Quietly superb prose...Haydu doesn’t romanticize illness, but she provides comfort through art, science, magic, love, and a purple suitcase.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

★ “Poignant and powerful. A heartbreaking story about the healing power of friendship amid human fragility.”
— ALA Booklist (starred review)

★ “In this moving, exquisitely written story, Corey Ann Haydu explores the thin line between science and magic within an intense bond of friendship.” — Shelf Awareness (starred review)

Praise for Rules for Stealing Stars:
★ “A well-crafted blend of realism and fantasy.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

★ “[A] lyrical story of love and loss. The way the sisters fight and love in equal measure, as well as their basic need for one another, rings poignantly true in this touching and heartwarming story, which contains a ‘tiny bit of magic, right here in the real world.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)

From the Publisher

★ “Poignant and powerful. A heartbreaking story about the healing power of friendship amid human fragility.”

ALA Booklist (starred review)

Praise for Eventown: “A wonderful and inventive story about being a kid in an imperfect world—beautiful, mysterious, and deeply satisfying.

Rebecca Stead

Haydu, author of OCD Love Story and other compelling works, offers a pleasing setup in this first volume of a new series. Reading is swift and accessible, broken up by copious cheerful illustrations, and youngsters will long to share in the cousins’ idyllic family life while understanding the pitfalls of propinquity.” 

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Haydu, author of OCD Love Story and other compelling works, offers a pleasing setup in this first volume of a new series. Reading is swift and accessible, broken up by copious cheerful illustrations, and youngsters will long to share in the cousins’ idyllic family life while understanding the pitfalls of propinquity.” 

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

★ “In this moving, exquisitely written story, Corey Ann Haydu explores the thin line between science and magic within an intense bond of friendship.

Shelf Awareness (starred review)

Haydu, author of OCD Love Story and other compelling works, offers a pleasing setup in this first volume of a new series. Reading is swift and accessible, broken up by copious cheerful illustrations, and youngsters will long to share in the cousins’ idyllic family life while understanding the pitfalls of propinquity.” 

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"A nuanced look at the girls’ friendship, emotions, and motivations. A transitional chapter book with unusual depth, good pacing, and a loving, supportive Latinx family. Libraries should find space on their shelves for this new series."

Booklist

★ “In this moving, exquisitely written story, Corey Ann Haydu explores the thin line between science and magic within an intense bond of friendship.

Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"A nuanced look at the girls’ friendship, emotions, and motivations. A transitional chapter book with unusual depth, good pacing, and a loving, supportive Latinx family. Libraries should find space on their shelves for this new series."

Booklist

01/01/2020

Gr 2–5—Best friends and cousins Alma and Del are excited that Alma's family has moved to be closer. Living together with their abuelita and extended family is going to be so much better than just visiting. The more Del tries to catch Alma up on all the things she needs to know about their neighborhood, the more Alma feels out of place and begins to miss her old lakeside house. When the girls find a pair of "magic" earrings at a stoop sale, the discovery tests their friendship for the first time. This series debut is a sweet tale about friendship, family, and being the new kid on the block. The chapters alternate between Alma's and Del's perspectives. The line-drawing illustrations throughout give a glimpse of the street where the girls live, the magic earrings, and some of the foods, like empanadas and gofio. VERDICT A good fit for larger collections. Put this book in the hands of kids who enjoy series like Annie Barrows's "Ivy and Bean" or Megan McDonald's "Judy Moody."—Kristin Williamson, Metropolitan Library System, Oklahoma

School Library Journal

2019-09-29
Haydu introduces two young cousins in a new chapter-book series for young readers.

Del (short for Delfina) and Alma are cousins, best friends, and, as of moments ago, neighbors on 23rd Avenue. Alma and her family have moved away from their old lakeside home to the brick walk-up apartment building where Alma's father's side of the family lives in the city. On the ground level is the Curious Cousins Secondhand Shoppe, and on the second, third, and fourth floors are Abuelita, Titi, cousins, and more of their Puerto Rican family. When Abuelita takes the girls to a stoop sale, Del finds dangling clip-on earrings and is promptly convinced that they are magical. After a couple flawless, magical days (readers might call them just lucky), Alma is fed up with Del's earrings and crushingly denies their magic. Convinced the earrings are causing them to fight, Alma decides to steal them and puts them out on the stoop for a passerby to take. Readers learn along the way that Alma feels "left out of" her own family, having lived apart from the rest of them for most of her life. They may well wonder why Alma's family has moved, but the story focuses on the conflict between the cousins. Told in alternating third-person with minimal Spanish interspersed, the actual plot lacks luster, and the focus on mundane details slows the book's pacing. Perhaps, with the scene now set, the series' next volume will pick up. Uribe's grayscale depictions are essential companions, depicting Del with dark skin and Alma as pale.

Everyday magic fails to create a spark in this book. (Fiction. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews