Zack attack!

By Jaco Jacobs

Zucchini Street is a street just like any other street.

Okay, maybe not quite. After all, it’s the street where Zack Berry lives. And whether he’s doing marvelous magic tricks, starting his own newspaper or making desperate plans to get out of the school play – wherever Zack is, there’s always loads of fun, adventure and mischief!

Three fantastic, funny stories in one book!

The stories were translated from the first three titles in the extremely popular Zackie Mostert series, of which more than 80 000 copies have sold.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan South Africa Children's Books
• Release date: Mar 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781776250011

Jaco Jacobs

Jaco Jacobs is the author of more than 260 books and more than a million copies of his books have been sold. His work has been awarded 46 times. His books have been translated into English, Dutch, Italian and Portuguese. He has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal twice and two of his books have been adapted to film. Jaco lives in Bloemfontein with his wife, Elize, their daughters, Mia and Emma, three dogs, a cat and a pet python.

Book preview

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Zack

Attack!

Jaco Jacobs

Illustrations by

Alex van Houwelingen

Pan Macmillan Children’s Books

www.panmacmillan.co.za

The Magnificent Magic Trick

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CHAPTER 1

A Boring Afternoon

Zucchini Street is a street just like any other street.

Okay, maybe not quite. Not many streets have such a funny name.

Number 10 Zucchini Street is a house just like any other house.

Okay, maybe not quite. Not many houses are painted such a shocking shade of yellow.

Today is a day just like any other day.

Or that’s what Zack thinks ...

Zack’s been bored all afternoon. There is nothing interesting to watch on TV. He is bored with his PlayStation game. Frankenstein, his dog, is tired of playing with the ball. His best friend, Vincent, has gone to the dentist. His sister, Kate, is at school for hockey practice. If she was home, he could have pestered her. That’s always a fantastic way to spend a boring afternoon.

There is absolutely nothing to do in the yellow house on Zucchini Street.

Zack Berry hates being bored – almost as much as he hates fish fingers and broccoli.

That’s why he decides to go and look around in the storeroom.

His skateboard must be in there somewhere. He’s sure his mom put it in the storeroom. Maybe he can practise doing some cool new skateboard tricks to show Vincent when he gets back from the dentist.

Zack loves the storeroom. It’s very dusty and very cluttered. Everywhere you look, there are stacks of old magazines and boxes filled with all sorts of stuff. Next to the door is an old wardrobe with a broken mirror. Against the wall there’s a shelf with his dad’s tools. In the one corner he can see a part of his mom’s old exercise bike under a pile of dirty blankets.

‘Are you going to help me find my skateboard, Frankie?’ asks Zack.

Frankenstein barks excitedly. He also loves the storeroom. He likes sniffing in every nook and cranny, like a police dog searching for clues.

Zack’s skateboard is nowhere to be found. He looks through all the big boxes. He rummages through the messy old wardrobe. At the bottom of the wardrobe he finds his soccer ball, but it’s flat. Now he will have to look for the pump too.

But then Zack sees something that makes him forget about the soccer ball and the skateboard.

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Right at the bottom of the old wardrobe, behind some empty glass bottles, he sees a box. A big, black box, decorated with gold stars. And it looks ancient.

Zack smiles broadly when he reads the words on the box:

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CHAPTER 2

A Magician’s Secrets

Zack glances at himself in the mirror. His rumpled blond hair curls around the rim of the black top hat. A cloak covered in stars is draped over his shoulders. With a dramatic swish he waves the magic wand through the air.

He found the hat, cloak and the magic wand in the box full of magic tricks.

‘What are you waiting for, Zack? Do a magic trick!’ says Vincent. He is sitting on Zack’s bed, watching him impatiently.

‘All right,’ Zack says in a deep voice. ‘For my first trick, I am going to make a marble magically disappear.’

Zack holds a marble up in the air. In his other hand is a paper cup. ‘Watch carefully,’ he says. ‘I pick up the marble ... and put it in the cup.’ He shows Vincent the marble in the cup. ‘Now I cover it with my handkerchief ...’ Zack grabs the magic wand and waves it over the cup.

In a loud whisper, he says,

‘‘ABRA ... CA ... DABRA!’

Zack whisks the handkerchief off the cup. Then he tilts the cup towards Vincent.

‘It’s gone!’ says Vincent, sounding very surprised.

Zack smiles. ‘No, it’s not,’ he says. He sticks his hand in his pocket. ‘Here it is!’

Vincent’s jaw drops. He stares at the marble Zack took out of his pocket. ‘Cool! Where did you learn that trick?’

Zack takes the box with the magic tricks out from under his desk. ‘My dad told me it was my grandpa’s,’ he says proudly.

Vincent is mesmerised by the contents of the box. There are playing cards, handkerchiefs and rings and balls in different colours – everything you need to do loads of magic tricks.

‘How does the trick work?’ Vincent asks. ‘How did you make the marble disappear?’

Zack shakes his head and the top hat falls to the ground. ‘The magic book says a magician should never tell anyone how his tricks work. It’s his secret.’

‘What magic book?’

‘The book that I found in the box,’ Zack says. ‘It explains how the magic tricks work.’

Vincent frowns. It looks as if his brain is working overtime. ‘But what if I become your assistant?’ he asks. ‘Every good magician should have an assistant.’

‘The book didn’t mention anything about assistants. What does an assistant do?’

‘The assistant must pass the magician all the stuff he needs to do the tricks,’ Vincent explains. ‘And he helps with the tricks.’

‘You’re right!’ says Zack. ‘I’ve seen that on TV. The assistant is the one that gets sawn in half ...’

‘You’re definitely not going to try and saw me in half!’ Vincent interrupts him.

Zack chews his bottom lip. ‘Okay,’ he says. ‘If you are going to be my assistant, I suppose I can show you how the trick works.’

He puts the paper cup down. Then he opens his hand. In his hand, there is ANOTHER marble.

‘Were there TWO marbles all along?’ Vincent sounds very surprised.

Zack nods. Then he passes the paper cup to Vincent.

‘Look, the cup has a small hole in the bottom. The marble fell out when I threw