Eric Wight

Fourth-grader Frankie Piccolini has a vivid imagination when it comes to cleaning his disastrously messy room, but eventually even he decides that it is just too dirty. Comic strip illustrations are interspersed throughout the text.

When Mike, an amateur magician, mentions that he might be related to Harry Houdini, Jackson Jacobs challenges him to prove it.

Mike attempts to convince his parents that he is responsible enough to be allowed to ride his bicycle to the magic shop all by himself.