Joe Strong was a favorite hero and could ride any horse, juggle most anything, and climb buildings, all with a steel reserve. He was the child of unique parents: a mother that rode trick horses and a magician for his father. However, in Horatio Alger fashion, by age five, he was without either parent. So he grew up in a circus and Joe Strong, the Boy Wizard relates a time in his life as he dabbles in magic This new edition is dedicated to Brent Morris, a real magician as well as real author. Vance Barnum was one of the pseudonyms of Edward Stratemeyer (1862-1930), who created an empire by employing a legion of ghost writers to produce more than 1300 adventure books. Ghost authors sometimes took names that played on the famous, such as "D.T. Henty" (George Alfred Henty); "P.T. Barnum Jr.," "Richard Barnum," "Vance Barnum" (P.T. Barnum); and "Theodore Edison" (Thomas A. Edison). He helped to develop several popular series, including Rover Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, Baseball Joe, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and Joe Strong.