Middle Grade Fiction: The Book of Secrets

-
17471054



Title: The Book of Secrets (Mister Max #2)
Author: Cynthia Voigt
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2014. 355 pages.
Source: Digital Library

Publisher's Summary:
In Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things, Max Starling proved that he is more than a detective, he’s a Solutioneer. His reputation for problem-solving has been spreading—and now even the mayor wants his help.

Someone is breaking windows and setting fires in the old city, but the shopkeepers won’t say a word about the culprits. Why are they keeping these thugs’ secrets? When the mayor begs for help, Max agrees to take the case, putting himself in grave danger. It’s a race to catch up with the vandals before they catch him.

Meanwhile, Max is protecting secrets of his own. His parents are still missing, and the cryptic messages he gets from them make it clear—it’s going to be up to Max to rescue them.

Can the Solutioneer handle cases this big?

My Review:
I reviewed the first book of this series (audio edition) a few weeks ago. You can tell I enjoyed it by how soon I hunted up Book Two! This time, I went for the ebook, and I greatly enjoyed having the illustrations (plus, some names became clearer to me, due to seeing them in writing).

Book Two did not disappoint. Max continues to use his wits to solve some challenging problems, sometimes aided, sometimes hindered, by his youth and his youthful ways of looking at things, as well as by his assistant, Pia, and his need to keep his own big secret about his missing parents.

The problems Max is trying to solve are getting bigger, now, and his personal stakes are higher than ever. But he's also having trouble holding onto his own secrets, and Voigt deftly leads Max and the reader to the conclusion that doing everything yourself isn't always possible, let alone a good plan. Max is learning the fine balance between the independence he so values and the interdependence that is the reality of life.

The story is fast-moving, with humor and excitement nicely blended, and the writing is excellent. The problem-solving aspect is a nice touch, as Max employs some approaches that an adult might not think of. I'll be ordering the 3rd book right away, to finish the story. I think I'll do that one in paper, just to round out the experience.

Recommendation:
A great fun read for anyone from about age 9 up. Younger kids may enjoy it (and there's nothing in it they shouldn't read), but may find the writing level a bit above them.

Full Disclosure: I checked The Book of Secrets out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." 

Comments

Post a Comment

Let us know what you think! We love to hear from our readers!

Popular Posts

#WEP--The Scream

-
Image
WEP challenges are FREE and open to all. On the 1st   of the challenge month, there will be a   get-your-thinking-caps   on post. The badge will include the dates of the challenge and the winner’s   prizes. The InLinkz sign up will open on the third Wednesday and close 3 days later. It will contain no news, just the sign up. Participants link up with their DLs (Direct Links to their entry).  Learn all about it here .    My entry this time is based on an actual incident. Mom and my brothers will recognize it. My apologies to them for the non-trivial liberties I took with history and their personalities. We are now also meant to provide a tag line for our stories, so here's mine: What terrors lurk in the root cellar?     The Scream The house we lived in that year wasn’t much. The wind blew in everywhere you could imagine a draft, and some places you couldn’t. The old enclosed porch we used as a root cellar was worse. It wasn’t just the win...
Read more

Non-fiction Audiobook Review: Falter, by Bill McKibben

-
Image
Important stuff, but hard to hear. Title: Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? Author: Bill McKibben. Ready by Olivery Wyman Publication Info: Macmillan Audio 2019. 11 hours. Hardback by Henry Holt & Co., 291 pages. Source: Library Blurb: (Goodreads): Thirty years ago Bill McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about climate change. Now he broadens the warning: the entire human game, he suggests, has begun to play itself out. Bill McKibben’s groundbreaking book The End of Nature -- issued in dozens of languages and long regarded as a classic -- was the first book to alert us to global warming. But the danger is broader than that: even as climate change shrinks the space where our civilization can exist, new technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics threaten to bleach away the variety of human experience. Falter tells the story of these converging trends and of the ideological fervor that keeps us from bringing them under control. And t...
Read more

#WEP: December Flash Fiction Challenge

-
Image
This December challenge wraps up the year of artistic inspiration from some great works of art. The WEP is open to all, following the simple rules: 1. SUBMIT your name to the list below on December 1 thru the 15th . Add your link (URL) 2. POST your entry, put WEP is in the TITLE along with The Narcissus badge within your entry. 3. STATE feedback preferences and word count at the end of your entry. 4. READ other entries, giving feedback if requested. 5. SHARE THE CHALLENGE on social media. Tweets are ready on the WEP blog. PLEASE NOTE: ENTRIES CLOSE Dec. 15th @ midnight (NY Time - check WEP blog clock) ALL GENRES WELCOME except erotica - 1,000 words maximum My story for this month's challenge is maybe cheating a little--I didn't write it for the challenge, but I decided that the common understanding of Narcissus and narcissism fits well enough, even if the story doesn't relate to the painting. I wrote this while trekking in Nepal last month, highlighting a character w...
Read more