21 Apr 2011 No Comments
“The Name of This Book is Secret” by Pseudonymous Bosch
THE BOOK MAMA BASICS
For ages: 8 -13
Gender specific: Not even a little bit
Any pictures?: Nope
How long?: 384 pages
Are there more?: Three more
Similar to?: The Mysterious Benedict Society
What’s it cost?: $6.99 on Amazon
Synopsis: The first page of “The Name of This Book is Secret” warns: “Do not read beyond this page!” Why, you ask? The book contains a dangerous secret so nefarious as to be perilous to even the innocent page-turners daring enough to venture forth. The first chapters present a tricky exercise in metafiction in which the story about a secret is revealed as being itself too secret to tell. (a ploy sure to tickle more puzzlesome readers) But then the intrusive narrator, who is equal parts snarky and delightful, strikes a deal and deigns to tell the story with fake names in Your Hometown, as long as you agree to “forget everything you read as soon as you read it.” Then follows the actual story of two intrepid kids who uncover a mysterious society bent on immortality, which as you can imagine, gets them in and out of all manner of trouble. (Edited from Booklist)
Review: Well, turns out the secret isn’t really that big of a secret. Nevertheless, the story’s irreverent tone is certain to hit a home-run with the 8 -13 year old crowd. In some ways, the writing and tone harkened back to the likes of Roald Dahl, and that just can’t be bad. This is an excellent out-loud bedtime book — especially, in my humble opinion, for dads to read to the wee ones. A bit on the long side, but packed with a crazy mystery and tons of dry wit.
