Pseudonymous Bosch facts for kids

Pseudonymous Bosch is the pen name of Raphael Simon (born October 25, 1967). He is a popular American author known for his exciting mystery and fantasy books for young readers. His most famous works include The Secret Series, The Bad Books series, and The Unbelievable Oliver mysteries. He has written 12 books that many people enjoy reading.

About the Author

Raphael Simon was born on October 25, 1967, in Los Angeles, California. His parents, Dyanne Asimow and Roger L. Simon, were both writers. Raphael has a brother named Jesse, who is a visual artist. He also has a younger half-sister, Madeleine.

Raphael Simon attended Yale University. Later, he earned a master's degree from UC Irvine. He used to teach classes about detective stories and writing for young readers at different colleges in California. Today, he lives in Pasadena, California, with his husband, Phillip de Leon. They have twin children, who were born in 2007.

Writing Career

For a long time, people wondered who Pseudonymous Bosch really was. Many suspected it was Raphael Simon. Bosch finally confirmed this himself in an article for The New York Times on May 8, 2016.

His pen name, Pseudonymous Bosch, is a clever play on words. It sounds like the name of a famous artist, Hieronymus Bosch. It might also be a nod to a fictional detective named Hieronymous "Harry" Bosch.

Before becoming a novelist, Raphael Simon worked as a screenwriter. He even wrote for the Nickelodeon TV show Rocket Power. He started writing his first novel, The Name of this Book Is Secret, by sending letters to a fourth-grader. This book was published in 2007. It was even nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe award for best juvenile mystery.

A sequel, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, came out in 2008. Eventually, there were five books in The Secret Series. This series became a New York Times bestseller. Millions of copies have been sold, and the books have been translated into many languages.

In 2013, Bosch released a unique book called Write This Book!. He described it as "a book that readers will write for me." He explained in an interview that it's a "half-written, guided mystery." Parts of it are like a "choose-your-own-adventure" story. Other parts are similar to games like Mad Libs.

The next year, Bosch returned to the world of The Secret Series with Bad Magic. This book was the first in what became The Bad Books trilogy.

On May 14, 2019, Bosch published The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers. This book has illustrations by Shane Pangburn. It is about an eight-year-old boy who dreams of becoming a professional magician. A second book in this series, The Unbelievable Oliver and the Sawed-in-Half Dads, was released on May 12, 2020.

In 2021, Raphael Simon published The Anti-Book. This was his first book released under his real name.