Reading a Ray Bradbury novel is to fully embrace all aspects of life. His characters feel things and express those feelings in ways we have never thought but instantly understand as though we have always felt them also. This is a fairly mundane story about an evil carnival owner who comes to the wrong town to set up shop. Pitted against him are two boys and a middle-aged dad who only have goodness and knowledge on their side. There are parts that, if you haven’t embraced the story, may feel mawkish and sentimental. Mr Bradbury, though, understands that magic must be fully engaged with: halfheartedness will not do, so he works all his spells to bring you into his world. I remember being partly like Jim and Will at their age: Bradbury makes me feel like we shared a childhood. I am of a similar vintage to Charles Halloway: I know what it is to feel your youth slipping away without you noticing, and the bewilderment that accompanies it. Novels like this aren’t read: they are cast upon you, the words wanting you to join them, to make them more powerful because you have accepted them. This book is wonderful.