Ordinary Jack

Everybody in Jack's family seems to be brilliant - apart from Jack and his downtrodden dog Zero. Even his little sister can beat him at swimming. But Jack's uncle Parker has come up with a plan to make him and Zero shine: they'll pretend that Jack can tell the future! If only they couldforesee what chaos the plan will cause . . .* Helen Cresswell is the much-loved writer of over 40 children's books. She's the author of classics such as Lizzie Dripping as well as having adapted The Demon Headmaster for television. She has been runner-up for the Carnegie Medal four times.

In ORDINARY MAGIC Jack Daly, atheist and movie 'special effects' expert, creates holograms of Jesus and famous saints to preach the Sunday sermon at Holy Redeemer Church in a last ditch effort to keep the poor parish out of bankruptcy. Tickets to the service cost up $250 each. His uncle, Fr. Frank Shymanski, the pastor, is tormented over this as he believes they are committing a sacrilege against God and will be severely punished for it. Bizarre murders soon take place. A policeman is levitated to his death in the church. An altar boy is mortally torched by a blast of psychokinetic energy. A beautiful woman is strangled in a Black Mass ritual at a synagogue by a killer who can be in two places at the same time. Rabbi Ari Zabel, a student of Kabbalah, is asked by the NYPD to consult on the strange case as the killer seemingly has mystical powers similar to those possessed by certain prophets in the Bible. The evidence points to a Demon as the likely culprit. In a climactic confrontation at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the killer's formidable powers are pitted against Jack's 'special effects' movie magic and the sparks fly.

An ordinary day is not so ordinary when Jack starts daydreaming on his way to school.

John Ogden emigrated from England to the New World in 1641.