Bosch, Pseudonymous. (2007). The Name of This Book Is Secret. Illus. Gilbert Lord. New York, New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Brief Annotation: The narrator begins by warning the reader not to read the book, because it contains a dangerous secret. The first chapter, which should introduce the setting and characters, is just two pages of "x"s, because the characters and setting, like the author, cannot be revealed, and must be instead represented by aliases. The unknown, paranoid narrator provides a running commentary on the process of writing the book throughout the novel. The narrator tells of two lonely and unusual elementary school students, Cass, who travels nowhere without her survival backpack, and Max-Ernest, who loves codes and puzzles and has a habit of talking nonstop. The two bond over a mysterious "symphony of smells" they discover among the effects of a missing magician's estate, and their search for the origin of the box and the whereabouts of the magician lead them to an unusual notebook, an alchemist spa and an exploration of synesthesia. They find themselves and an unusual classmate in danger, and must use all of their survival and code-breaking skills to escape and figure out what is really happening in the realm of the alchemists.
Genre: mystery fiction
Grade Level: 4-6
Readers who will like this: Readers who like mysteries, readers interested in magic and codes, readers who like the Series of Unfortunate Events books (with their sarcastic narrator)
Response/Rating (1-4): 4. This book was inventive and unusual. The footnotes, side comments and discussions about the process of writing, and of writing mysteries specifically, were funny and insightful. The mystery was interesting, and the developing relationship between Cass and Max-Ernest will make readers want to find out how their relationship may change in the next book in the series.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: Have you ever smelled a piece of music? Have you heard a painting? What would it mean to be able to do that?
Using the commentary about writing to structure focused writing exercises for a class seems like an opportunity not to be missed. In your book kit you suggested writing the beginning of the next book as a follow-up activity; can you weave in the use of writerly advice from the book to support kids' work on this project?
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