Skip to main content

The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch


This is the story of two children and a big secret surrounding the mysterious death of a magician (the kind that performs on a stage, not the kind that attends Hogwarts). The story is told by a narrator who claims to know the children but this character never actually shows up in the story. (Sound familiar? I thought so too.)

There are a few good chuckles in this book, especially in the first few pages. I only wish I could say the rest of the book was as good as its beginning. The nameless narrator with a fake sounding name who recounts the antics of two children who get themselves into a lot of trouble reminded me just a bit too much of another well-known series about unfortunate children. The plot of the book was bit uneven. There were parts of the story that made me laugh out loud and kept me on the edge of my seat, but other parts lagged and made me lose interest and I sometimes found myself skimming ahead to the more exciting parts. A cliffhanger ending alludes to the promise of future installments. A fun appendix at the back of the book gives more information about projects readers can try at home and codes they can learn. Overall, I think kids will like this book, but some adults might find it a little harder to get into. Anyone who loved the Series of Unfortunate Events and Mysterious Benedict Society will find this an enjoyable read.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dragon Run

Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.

Review: The Bletchley Riddle

  The Bletchley Riddle By Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin New York: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2024. Fiction. 392 pages. It's spring of 1940, Hitler has swept through most of Europe, and people believe England will be next. Half Polish-Jewish, half American Jakob has been recruited from Cambridge to Bletchley Park where they are working on deciphering the enigma machine. Jakob's sister Lizzie, meanwhile, is being forced to move from London to Cleveland to live with her grandmother after her mother disappeared in a 1939 attack in Poland. Lizzie manages to escape the keeper her grandmother sent for her to bring her to America and makes her way to Bletchley, where she's eventually given the task of delivering messages between departments. When secret messages begin appearing with Lizzie's belongings, she must decipher them to find the truth about her mother's past and location, while keeping the secrets away from the MI5 agent that seems a little t...