The Name of This Book is Secret by Psuedonymous Bosch (2007)

Bosch, Pseudonymous.  (2007).  The Name of This Book Is Secret.  New York, NY:  Little, Brown and Company.

Plot Summary:  The Narrator is very involved in this story and warns the reader against turning pages and reading this book.  The narrator wants the reader to understand that this book is very dangerous because of the secret that it contains.  Cass is in the antique shop when Gloria Fortune comes in with a box of stuff for her Granpas to sell.  Inside the cardboard box is a beautiful wooden box that is lined with velvet and filled with vials.  The vials all contain different scents-from vanilla to lemon to dirt.  The box is called The Symphony of Smells.  Gloria tells them how she is trying to sell a house that once belonged to a magician who died under very mysterious circumstances.  This intrigues Cass, and when she and Max-Ernest find a slip of paper within the box that they see as a message for help from the magician, they decide to investigate further.

Cass and Max-Ernest break into the house and find a secret room that contains all of the magician’s things.  As they are looking through the stuff, Cass finds a notebook that matches the Symphony of Smells box.  Just as they find the book, Gloria arrives to show the house to a couple-Mr. L. and Ms. Mauvais.  Cass and Max-Ernest can see them through a grate in the wall and Cass can tell that there is something not right about these people.  The woman seems to be looking right at them through the wall with a curious expression on her face, and is asking a lot of questions about the magician’s belongings.  Cass and Max-Ernest decide to make a run for it and unfortunately, Gloria recognizes Cass.  They get away, but not before the couple sees Cass holding the notebook.  When they are finally safe, it looks like the notebook only contains one page with a riddle and is otherwise empty.  Cass and Max-Ernest think that they risked breaking in and getting caught for no reason.

Later, Cass and Max-Ernest are able to solve the riddle and then Cass realizes that the notebook is not empty at all-the writing is simple hidden inside each folded page.  As she and Max-Ernest unfold the pages and read the magician’s writing, many stories begin to unfold, and many more mysteries need to be solved.  Such as…what happened to Benjamin?  Where is Gloria Fortune? What is the magician’s secret?  What will happens when Cass visits the spa?  Who are Dr. L. and Ms. Mauvais and what are they really after?  Cass and Max-Ernest must put themselves in harm’s way more than once to try to get to the bottom of many secrets……

Genre:  Mystery

Suggested age range:  8 through 12

Series Information:

Book 2:  If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late (2009)

Book 3:  This Book is Not Good For You (2009)

Book 4:  This Isn’t What It Looks Like (2010)

Subjects/Themes:  Magicians, kidnapping, magic

Awards: 

Edgar Awards (Edward Allan Poe Awards) Nominated for an award (2008)

E. B. White Award Nominated for an award (2008)

Reviews: This book was given very favorable reviews by School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist.

Character Description:

Cassandra-She is an 11 year old girl who calls herself a survivalist.  Cass has everything that she needs stored in her backpack that she takes with her everywhere she goes.  Some adults see her as an extremist, but Cass knows when trouble is out there and tries to do her part.

Max-Ernest-He is an 11 year old boy who has two names because his parents couldn’t stop fighting over what to name him when he was born.  This ultimately led to their divorce, but they still all live together in the same house as a family-although every room in the house is split down the middle.  This makes for a very stressful home environment for Max-Ernest and probably contributes to his condition-which is that he can never seem to stop talking!

Melanie-This is Cass’s mother.

Grandpa Wayne & Grandpa Larry-They are Cass’s “substitute” grandpas.  Grandpa Larry was Cass’s mom’s high school history teacher.  Melanie asked Wayne and Larry to fill in as Cass’s grandpas since neither one of her original grandpas was around.  They live in an old firehouse that doubles as an antique shop.  Cass is close with them and goes to the shop after school sometimes to help out. 

Gloria Fortune-She is a real estate agent who has the magician’s house on the market.  Gloria also brings things from estates to the antique shop for the Grandpas to sell.

Sebastian-This is the Grandpas’ dog.  He is blind and also losing his hearing, but has an awesome sense of smell.  Cass relies on him for protection and sniffing things out.

Benjamin-This is a boy that goes to school with Cass and Max-Ernest.  Cass believes that he has a special ability with smells, colors, and music, which is why his paintings are all connected to music.  When Benjamin is kidnapped by Dr. L. and Ms. Mauvais, Cass tries to figure out why.

Dr. L.-He is the partner of Ms. Mauvais.  Together they run a place called the Midnight Sun Sensorium and Spa.

Ms. Mauvais-The woman who was interested in the magician’s belongings and the notebook that Cass took.  Also referred to as the “Golden Lady” by the magician in his notebook. 

Annotation:  This book is so cleverly written, and has many twists and turns during the storytelling and is suspenseful.  The narration is written skillfully to avoid giving certain details such as addresses or names in order to keep the secret.  The story continues……