Suitcase of Stars by Pierdomenico Baccalario (review)

On the coast of north Scotland, just near thirteen-year-old Finley’s small town, sits the Enchanted Emporium, a bright red shop that holds a slew of valuable magical items, including a flying carpet and a powder that can help the user converse with spirits. Finley’s duties as a substitute mail carrier bring him to the Emporium, where he meets the shop owners, the Lilys, and their lovely teenaged daughter Aiby, with whom Finley quickly is smitten. When a crazed Dutchman wakes a giant in the nearby castle ruins and it threatens to destroy the store, Finley must help Aiby save the family business—preferably without being killed in the process. This Italian import, the first in a series, is slow to start, and there are a few incongruities in the plot: based on Finley’s surprised reactions to the objects in the store, magic seems to be unknown in Applecross, but the conclusion has townsfolk cheerfully and unquestioningly gathering round for the Emporium’s opening. Furthermore, the titular Suitcase of Stars, discovered in the Dutchman’s hotel room, is merely mentioned once and then never referred to again. The magical action, however, is enjoyable, Finley and Aiby are an engaging and intrepid pair, and the interspersed illustrations and descriptions of various magical items (pages from the Lilys’ Big Book of Magical Objects) are intriguing. Kids willing to skim the slower bits may find plenty to entertain them in the scenes of magic gone awry.