When twelve-year old Jack Mac Paidin touches a golden telescope tha reveals his magical powers, he enters a portal and travels through time to uncover hidden secrets about his parents' deaths...and the betrayal of his own brother. Things aren't what they seem in this fast-paced second volume in the Jack and the Magic Hat Maker middle-grade fantasy series. Deceived and abducted by his older brother, twelve-year-old Jack Mac Paidin takes a trip through time to meet his long-lost grandmother, Lydia, who contacted him through the magic of a spell-crafted, golden telescope. Can Lydia protect Jack from the evil group who made him an orphan and is out to harness his powers before it's too late? So begins the fantasy adventure The Kidnapping King, the thrilling second book of the Jack and the Magic Hat Maker series, by Tracy Partridge-Johnson. Jack's own family-his aunt Inez leading the helm-is plotting against him to gain access to his new found powers to use for sinister deeds. They've even convinced his older brother, Ethan, that Jack is vying to take his rightful share of the family inheritance, in an effort to pin him against his brother and use him to capture Jack and his magic. "We need that boy," Thaddeus O'Brien interjected. "All these years of care and preparation are for nothing if we aren't able to control all three children." Inez and her crew craft special pendants that enable them to teleport through a magical portal between Sweden and the Mac Paidin ancestral home in Dublin, Ireland to unfold their unseemly plans. In the middle of Ethan's chest, suspended from a black leather cord, was a large, glowing pendant. The stone was a vibrant shade of sapphire blue, and it pulsated with a cool light from within. The bauble held Jack's attention for only a moment because just as he was staring at it, from the corner of his eye, he was distracted by something else materializing behind Ethan. A large, shimmering oval appeared and was suspended there in mid-air. It's a race through time, literally, for Jack to learn how to use his powers, escape from his evil family members, go back in time to find his grandmother and solve the mystery of his murdered parents, all before it's too late and he's thrown back to living a miserable life in the cold, dank basement of his heartless aunt and uncle. "You are in Stockholm, Sweden, and this is your new home. Protection spells surround this house, and you'll have no access to a cell phone or other technology for contacting your friends in Ireland. So, you'll want to get used to that idea. Resist, and you will be one miserable little boy. Cooperate, and eventually, you could be very happy," Jack's aunt tells him. Middle-graders will love the inventions and gadgets, time travel and magical portals, and spells and powers of this fast-paced tale. With additional books following in this fantasy series, Jack and the Magic Hat Maker:The Kidnapping King will take readers on an exciting adventure through time and space, reality and fantasy, on one boy's journey for truth and revenge.