Orson Scott Card's Magic Street suffers, in my opinion, because the dialogue sounds forced. Card is respectful -- and perhaps, in some ways, too respectful -- of his African American characters. But to me, it sounds like what it is: a white man writing black dialogue.

Also, the setup to the story is slow and subtle. I'll admit right now I am not used to Card's narrative rhythm, and it took me a while to get comfortable reading him.

The "hero" of this tale is Mack Street. Mack was found as a newborn in a grocery sack in a disused park in a Los Angeles neighborhood. Cecil (aka Ceese), one of the two kids who found him, took him to the neighborhood nurse, who ended up naming and fostering Mack.

Early on, Mack has "cold dreams," each representing the deepest desires of a person. One of the critical points in this book is when Mack dreams of Tamika, the neighborhood swimming champion, wishing she were a fish. Tamika's parents wake up to find their daughter in their waterbed.

Eerie events follow Mack. He sees "Bag Man," a homeless man that few others see, and a black-clad female motorcycle rider, who definitely has an interest in him. And then there's Puck and Mab, and a full-blown war between Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairies, whose enmity wasn't resolved with the happy conclusion of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The story slowly unfolds, but it's harder to put down once the rather lengthy setup is done.

Magic Street is definitely worthwhile, though initially hard to get into, and I will definitely look for some of Card's other books.