Book Descriptions
for Spirit Sleuths by Gail Jarrow
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Table tipping, rapping, and glowing spirit trumpets were some of the tactics used by 19th - and early 20th-century spiritualists to convince customers that they were a conduit to the dead. This account of spiritualists provides explanations of how they created these and other phenomena before discussing the efforts of Harry Houdini and Rose Mackenberg, who were dedicated to discrediting the charlatans. Houdini and Mackenberg exposed some of the most well-known mediums of the era. A final chapter focuses on more contemporary psychic frauds. An author’s note places the historical popularity of spiritualism within the current context of misinformation and propaganda. Plentiful photographs, newspaper excerpts, and archival illustrations provide a visual accompaniment to the lively text.
CCBC Choices 2025. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin – Madison, 2025. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
A School Library Journal Best Book, Best Nonfiction Middle to High School 2024
A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2024
2025 Texas Topaz List
CCBC Choices 2025
2025 Capitol Choices
The latest from acclaimed author Gail Jarrow reveals how magicians—including Harry Houdini and his team of investigators—exposed fake mediums who exploited the vulnerable and gullible in the early twentieth century.
★ Shelf Awareness, starred review
★ School Library Journal, starred review
After millions of people died during World War I and from the 1918 influenza pandemic, the popularity of Spiritualism soared. Desperate to communicate with their dead loved ones, the bereaved fell prey to extortion by fraudulent mediums and fortune-tellers.
But magician Harry Houdini wasn't fooled. He recognized the scammers' methods as no more than conjurer's tricks. Angered by the way people were exploited, Houdini set out to expose the ghost hoaxes. In his stage show, he revealed the fraudsters’ techniques, and he used a team of undercover investigators to collect proof of séance deceptions. His head secret agent was a young New York private detective and disguise expert, Rose Mackenberg—a woman who continued her ghost-busting career for decades, long after Houdini's death in 1926.
Ideal for young readers and adults who are drawn to the worlds of psychics and magicians, this riveting book uncovers a little-known chapter in American history and details the ways people were (and still are) deceived by mediums and fortune-tellers.
A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2024
2025 Texas Topaz List
CCBC Choices 2025
2025 Capitol Choices
The latest from acclaimed author Gail Jarrow reveals how magicians—including Harry Houdini and his team of investigators—exposed fake mediums who exploited the vulnerable and gullible in the early twentieth century.
★ Shelf Awareness, starred review
★ School Library Journal, starred review
After millions of people died during World War I and from the 1918 influenza pandemic, the popularity of Spiritualism soared. Desperate to communicate with their dead loved ones, the bereaved fell prey to extortion by fraudulent mediums and fortune-tellers.
But magician Harry Houdini wasn't fooled. He recognized the scammers' methods as no more than conjurer's tricks. Angered by the way people were exploited, Houdini set out to expose the ghost hoaxes. In his stage show, he revealed the fraudsters’ techniques, and he used a team of undercover investigators to collect proof of séance deceptions. His head secret agent was a young New York private detective and disguise expert, Rose Mackenberg—a woman who continued her ghost-busting career for decades, long after Houdini's death in 1926.
Ideal for young readers and adults who are drawn to the worlds of psychics and magicians, this riveting book uncovers a little-known chapter in American history and details the ways people were (and still are) deceived by mediums and fortune-tellers.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
