Gr 5-8 Twelve-year-old Jackson Opus knows that he is a little different and that people sometimes act odd around him. But when his New York City bus driver suddenly starts driving like a madman and his psychiatrist tries to jump out the window, Jax thinks it's more than a little strange. Turns out, Jax is a hypnotist, a person capable of capturing others' minds and bending them to suggestions. It's not an easy power to master. Fortunately, Jax is taken under the wing of Dr. Elias Mako of the Sentia Institute, where he, along with others with similar powers, learns how to control his ability. But with great power comes great responsibility, and his gift makes him a ripe target for those who want to use him to "bend" others. Can Jax determine who is friend and who is foe in a world in which his own mind can be used against him? Korman delivers a quick and thrilling adventure with accessible characters and a familiar urban landscape. While the overall story and world-building run thin at times, readers looking for an action-filled plot will enjoy this contemporary story of psychic powers and betrayal. The dramatic tone may be unexpected for fans who know Korman for high jinks and humor, but it should be a good fit for fans of his "Titanic" trilogy (Scholastic). Stephanie Whelan, New York Public Library

When twelve-year-old Jackson Opus discovers that he's a hypnotist, he thinks his new ability is pretty cool. After the director of the shady Sentia Institute discovers that Jax's mind control powers are uniquely strong, however, Jax finds himself caught in the middle of a dangerous conspiracy. The mixture of humor, fast-paced action, and suspense adds up to solid, engaging middle-grade fare.

The fast-paced first volume in Korman-s Hypnotists series introduces some historical conspiracies worthy of Dan Brown. In Korman-s world, famous events from the Hindenberg disaster to the Lewis and Clark expedition were influenced by hypnotists, people with a genetic gift that allows them to control others- minds. Twelve-year-old Jackson -Jax- Opus is starting to notice that people sometimes do what he says without thinking about it, and that he has strange visions when this happens. After a run-in with a stage hypnotist, he is recruited to the Sentia Institute, run by Dr. Elias Mako, friend to politicians and movie stars alike. Jax starts training his natural skills, but an encounter with another hypnotist, former con artist Axel Braintree, persuades him that there-s more to both his own family history and to Sentia. Korman (the Swindle series) delivers an entertaining mix of intense action and goofy fun; he isn-t afraid to raise the stakes when necessary, and he makes the moral murkiness of mind control apparent to characters and readers alike. The ending wraps up some loose ends, but leaves plenty for future books. Ages 8-12. (Aug.)

Things just have a way of working out for Jax. The bus stops when he is running late. The pretty girl looks his way. Teachers love him, and for a mediocre athlete, he has got a magic touch on the basketball court. But soon Jax discovers that it's not just good luck; rather, he has an innate ability to hypnotize those around him. When his skill is discovered by another hypnotist at a vaudeville-style show, he is recruited into a secretive training program. Jax is skeptical at first, but then he decides to make the most of his skill til he realizes that Dr. Mako and his trainees at the Sentia Institute have plots far more nefarious and powerful than Jax's dream of getting an extra serving of fries out of the cafeteria ladies. Brief, fast-moving, mysterious, and full of suspenseful moments, this first in the Hypnotists series hits all the right notes for aspiring magicians as well as those who like plucky underdogs who are easy to cheer for.

An unsettling premise and wildly escalating threats jump-start Korman's newest series. Jackson Opus is uneasy about his ability to, sometimes, make people do exactly what he tells them to--until he's invited to join a training program at the mysterious Sentia Institute, where he learns that he's an uncommonly gifted member of a rare but not unknown breed of natural-born "mind-benders." Initially dazzled by the glittering promises of world-changing powers offered by Sentia's founder, Elias Mako, Jax soon gets the feeling that Mako has a hidden agenda. That feeling becomes a certainty after Jax meets the Sandman's Guild, an underclass of benders struggling with the ability's addictive lure, and records a video for, supposedly, experimental purposes that hypnotizes anyone who sees it. Despite such tongue-in-cheek highlights as a guild meeting modeled on an AA support group and a "Sorcerer's Apprentice"–style scene in the wake of a string of badly worded hypnotic commands, the story takes a suspenseful turn. Jax discovers that his own parents have been implanted with a deadly posthypnotic command to keep him in line and that Mako has "bent" the leading U.S. presidential candidate. There's action aplenty, and belly laughs too--though the implication that benders have played significant roles in history and are among us now may leave readers feeling queasy. (Suspense fantasy. 10-13)