Nothing Up My Sleeve Read online

  Finally, my inspiration for this book comes from the fact that I know too much about magic but cannot perform any tricks. This is because of my magician friends. Here’s a shout-out to Rolando Medina, Mike Cruz (AKA Spikey Mikey), and Julio Ramirez, owner of JCR Magic, the shop that inspired Conjuring Cats. The biggest shout-out, however, goes to my husband, Gene, who generously shared all his magic know-how and extensive collection of props, books, and lecture notes. He also let me tag along at magic lectures and, of course, the annual TAOM Convention, where I got the idea for an amateur close-up contest. Thanks, Gene, for helping me brainstorm, for reading my drafts, and for being my best friend!

  CONTENTS

  COVER

  TITLE PAGE

  WELCOME

  DEDICATION

  EPIGRAPH

  Z

  DOMINIC

  LOOP

  DOMINIC

  Z

  LOOP

  LOOP

  DOMINIC

  Z

  Z

  DOMINIC

  DOMINIC

  Z

  LOOP

  LOOP

  DOMINIC

  Z

  DOMINIC

  LOOP

  DOMINIC

  Z

  LOOP

  LOOP

  DOMINIC

  Z

  LOOP

  Z

  DOMINIC

  Z

  LOOP

  DOMINIC

  LOOP

  Z

  DOMINIC

  LOOP

  Z

  LOOP

  DOMINIC

  Z

  DOMINIC

  LOOP

  DOMINIC

  Z

  DOMINIC

  LOOP

  DOMINIC LOOP AND Z

  FROM ARIEL’S NOTEBOOK

  THE VAULT

  BEHIND THE MAGIC

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 by Diana López

  Cover art by Lisa Weber

  Cover design by Maggie Edkins

  Cover © 2016 Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

  1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104

  lb-kids.com

  Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  First ebook edition: April 2016

  ISBN 978-0-316-34089-2

  E3