SHORTLISTED: 2025 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature
SHORTLISTED: 2025 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, Writing for Young Adults
SHORTLISTED: 2024 Queensland Literary Awards, Young Adult Book Award
I don't know about love. I suspect the emotion that others apparently feel all the time is just . . . absent from me. Like there's an ingredient missing from the recipe. The possible exception is Gran.
Grace cares about only two things: performing magic and her cantankerous gran. Gran shares her prickly personality and spiky sense of humour, and she's the only one Grace lets into her tightly locked heart - until she meets Simon, a schoolmate who promises to help her turn her magic tricks into a small business and social media stardom.
When Gran is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Grace moves in to become her primary carer. With the help of Simon and some sleight of hand, Grace is determined to bring joy back into their lives. And when she confronts her worst fear, she realises maybe her heart doesn't need to stay locked away after all.
A funny, compelling and fresh story from the author of the bestselling books My Life As An Alphabet and A Song Only I Can Hear.
'Smoke & Mirrors is fantastic sleight of hand and heart; at once tender and humorous.' - Danielle Binks
'A portrait of grief and growth, with a touch of spectacle. This is more than magic... It's a miracle.' - Will Kostakis
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Barry Jonsberg is an English teacher, originally from the UK but a resident of Darwin since 1999. He has two degrees in English and was Head of Department at the South Cheshire College in Crewe, Cheshire, UK. His first book for young adults, the highly acclaimed The Whole Business with Kiffo and the Pitbull, was published by Allen + Unwin in 2004 followed by
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