Warning: this description has not been authorized by Pseudonymous Bosch. As much as he'd love to sing the praises of his book (he is very vain), he wouldn't want you to hear about his brave 11-year old heroes, Cass and Max-Ernest. Or about how a mysterious box of vials, the Symphony of Smells, sends them on the trail of a magician who has vanished under strange (and stinky) circumstances. And he certainly wouldn't want you to know about the hair-raising adventures that follow and the nefarious villains they face. You see, not only is the name of this book secret, the story inside is, too. For it concerns a secret. A Big Secret.
It was one of the best books I ever read My daughter loved this book, and she can't wait for the next book. She loved it! The characters are really cool - she really loved reading about them.
A delight to read Eleven-year-old schoolmates Cass and Max-Ernest are nothing alike.
Max-Ernest is small for his age. He likes to tell jokes and talk non-stop, even when no one is listening. He lives in a house divided straight down the middle --- one side for each of his divorced parents, who still live together and frequently take him to the doctor to find out what makes him so hyper and causes his "condition."
Max-Ernest has a logical mind. He likes to study, make observations and think things through. He cuts every hair on his head the same length because he "doesn't like to favor one hair over another." He is used to being teased and ridiculed and having his lunch stolen, yet he never lets what other people say upset him. But he is pleased when Cass becomes his first real "friend."
Cass, a conspiracy-theory-advocate-in-training, has a wild imagination. She doesn't care much about her appearance, except that she always covers her large, elfin-like ears, which have a tendency to turn bright red when she is embarrassed or less than truthful. Cass is a survivalist who has no time for trivial matters --- or friends.
Her take on the story about the boy who cried wolf is that it is "better to cry wolf over and over than never to cry wolf at all." In addition to her school books and homework, she carries a backpack full of survival essentials, including a flashlight, compass, maps, rope, first-aid kit and --- well, you get the picture.
When Cass's mother goes on a Hawaiian "work-plus-vacation trip" and leaves Cass with Larry and Wayne, her substitute grandfathers, Cass and Max-Ernest's adventure --- and danger --- begins.
Larry and Wayne live around the corner from Cass in an old, abandoned fire station that has been converted to an antiques store and warehouse. One day --- it was a Wednesday --- Gloria Fortune, a real estate agent for the dead, shows up at the store with a container of stuff from the home of a magician who has disappeared. After having the house emptied and cleaned out, Gloria has some items she wants Larry and Wayne to take off her hands.
One is a redwood box, which is shaped like a briefcase. Inside the box are dozens of sparkling crystal vials, a small brass plaque engraved with "The Symphony of Smells" and a notebook. Cass enlists Max-Ernest's help to uncover the secret behind the "Symphony of Smells" and the message hidden in the notebook.
While trying to solve the mystery, they encounter Dr. L. and Ms. Mauvais, wealthy and evil villains who wear white gloves, ride in a limousine and have an unnatural interest in children with special gifts. When Cass tries to rescue an unusually gifted classmate who goes missing after Dr. L. and Ms. Mauvais visit their school, Cass does more than solve a mystery. She learns about the true meaning of loyalty, bravery and friendship.
The narrator's playful voice, engaging characters and unusual plot make THE NAME OF THIS BOOK IS SECRET a delight to read. But after you finish it, be sure to keep the secret!
--- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt
Great potential, but . . . I really, really wanted to like this book. Very much so. I really like the packaging. The jacket art is attractive, the POB case cool, chapter opener art nicely done. That's pretty much where the appeal ended for me. The writing tries so very hard to be clever but never quite reaches its full potential. I'm greatly reminded of the Series of Unfortunate Events, especially considering this is mostly told through a third-person narrative. But all of the backtalk (pretend this and assume that) was disjointed, and it overpowered what could have been a really great story.
The underlying story is a good one albeit weakly presented. To be honest, and I HATE to admit it, I skimmed through the last few chapters of the book. I read a lot of middle-grade and young-adult books, and I often read them with a grain of salt. I expect the writing geared for young readers to pose as some sort of a challenge, but this book doesn't do that. Oh, there were some good parts to it, and those are the parts I wished were more fully developed, were more focused upon. I get the feeling this was supposed to be the next Big Thing after Lemony Snicket's series ended. The characters are strong, the basic story is good; the execution? Not so much. To give it credit, it made a valiant effort. Just not a successful effort.
loved it loved it loved it I love reading books and some books I can't understand how its written or the story line at all. I am a 12 year old girl and am in sixth grade. I love to read and this is my favorite book. This book is a mystery and an adventure story in one. Pseudonymous Bosch adds his own little comments about the book which makes you just want to keep going. I took me an hour to read this book and when i was done with it I read it again because it was sooooooooo good. I am sure anybody who reads it will fall in love with it instantly.
A disappointing ending, but presumably a sequel en route In his debut novel "Pseudonymous Bosch" tells a story wrapped in an enigma: not only is the name of the book a secret, as its very name asserts, but so are the names of his characters and other identifiers such as their location and hair color. But because he's got a story to tell and has to call them something, Bosch gives his characters pseudonyms. "Cassandra," or Cass, is an 11-year-old survivalist. She carries a backpack filled with supplies with her at all times and tends to imagine disasters around every corner. Because these never materialize, the people around her mostly dismiss her concerns--hence her similarity to her namesake, the Greek Cassandra, who was given the power of prophecy with the catch that no one would believe her. Cass's classmate "Max-Ernest"--whose dual name reflects his parents' divided opinions and lifestyle--is unusually talkative and has some kind of condition that has yet to be identified. Cass and Max-Ernest bond because they're both more accepting than most of one another's peculiarities. And soon they fall into a mystery. A secret message from a magician, presumed dead, leads them into peril--specifically, the evil, glove-wearing clutches of a pair of too-perfect-looking malefactors, the enigmatic Dr. L. And Ms. Mauvais.
To an extent Bosch's book is reminiscent of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. Here too a pseudonymous author is telling the story of his young protagonists' brush with evil. He suggests readers not read the book. There is a secret organization of do-gooders involved, and the plot is even punctuated by suspicious fires. The narrator alludes to dangers he himself is facing, and he interrupts the narrative with amusing comments addressed to the reader. But Bosch is not as linguistically playful as Snicket, and a larger percentage of his text is pure story, I'd say, than one gets in the Snicket corpus.
I liked most of this book a lot. The protagonists are likable, not improbably smart but clever enough. The mystery held my interest. And the villains are deliciously creepy without wearing their evil on their sleeves. I was disappointed, however, in the ending, an important detail of which, involving a coded communication, seemed implausible. The ending also, frustratingly, left a lot unanswered, presumably in preparation for a sequel, though there is no indication on the book's jacket that this is the first in a series.
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