The Name of this Book is Secret facts for kids
First edition (US)
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| Author | Pseudonymous Bosch |
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| Illustrator | Gilbert Ford |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Secret Series |
| Genre | Mystery and adventure |
| Publisher | Little, Brown |
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Publication date
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2007 |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 360 |
| ISBN | 0-316-11366-2 |
| Followed by | If You're Reading This, It's Too Late |
The Name of this Book is Secret is an exciting fantasy novel for young readers. It was written by Pseudonymous Bosch and published in 2007. The story follows two kids, Cass and Max-Ernest, as they try to solve the mysterious death of a local magician named Pietro Bergamo. The author, Pseudonymous Bosch, often talks directly to the reader, sometimes even pretending he doesn't want to share the secrets of the story!
This book is the first in a series called The Secret Series. The next book, If You're Reading This, It's Too Late, came out in 2008. Then came This Book Is Not Good for You in 2009, This Isn't What It Looks Like in 2010, and You Have to Stop This in 2011.
Contents
Meet the Characters
Cass
Cassandra, known as Cass, is an 11-year-old girl and one of the main heroes. She is always ready for anything, like hurricanes or floods. She carries a backpack full of survival gear everywhere. The narrator calls her a "survivalist" because of this. Even though she likes to work alone, she teams up with Max-Ernest to investigate the mystery. Cass has pointy ears and considers her mother's old history teacher and his friend her grandfathers. She doesn't know her birth parents, finding out she's adopted later in the series. She has a blind dog named Sebastian, who helps her by smelling things.
Max-Ernest
Max-Ernest is also 11 years old and the other main hero. His parents couldn't decide between naming him Max or Ernest, so they combined the names. They also cut their two houses in half and put them together. His mom lives on one side, and his dad lives on the other. They don't talk to each other, but they want Max-Ernest to grow up with both parents. Max-Ernest talks a lot, sometimes to himself. Cass is his only close friend. He also helps translate what Benjamin Blake mumbles. He likes to keep all his hair the same length for philosophical reasons. He loves school subjects and solving riddles.
Ms. Mauvais and Dr. L
Ms. Mauvais and Dr. L are the villains of the story. They seem to know about Pietro Bergamo's death. They desperately want to find his special song, which holds clues about the secret. When they learn Cass and Max-Ernest have Pietro's notebook, they will do anything to get it. It turns out Dr. L is Pietro's brother, Luciano. Cass discovers this by seeing a crescent moon birthmark on his neck. They own a spa called "The Midnight Sun." This spa is run by people called alchemists who are searching for secrets to live forever. Ms. Mauvais and Dr. L are much older than they look. They wear long gloves to hide their wrinkled hands. Dr. L is tall with silver hair, tanned skin, and very white teeth. Ms. Mauvais has big eyes, a tiny waist, and stylish blonde hair. She is covered in gold jewelry and has an icy voice.
Pietro Bergamo
Pietro Bergamo was a magician who had a special condition called synesthesia. This means his senses got mixed up, like seeing colors when he heard music. Ms. Mauvais gave him a box of different smells called The Symphony of Smells. Pietro also wrote the notebook Cass and Max-Ernest find. It tells about his close relationship with his twin brother, Luciano, and how they joined the circus. Luciano was kidnapped by Ms. Mauvais and is now her partner, Dr. L. Even though the narrator says Pietro is dead, Cass and Max-Ernest get a coded note from him.
Benjamin Blake
Benjamin Blake is a boy from Cass and Max-Ernest's school. He won an art prize because he also has synesthesia. He paints in a unique and attractive way. Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais kidnap him, thinking his brain will help them find the Secret. He later reappears in another book, This Isn't What It Looks Like. He looks pale and mumbles when he talks.
Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne
Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne are Cass's grandfathers. They are not her biological grandfathers but love her very much. Grandpa Larry was Cass's mother's history teacher. They own a junk shop in an old fire station. Gloria Fortune often drops off items from dead people's houses there, including the Symphony of Smells.
Owen
Owen is a butler Cass meets at The Midnight Sun Spa. At first, he stutters and seems shy but friendly. Cass and Max-Ernest soon learn that Owen is actually a spy. He helps them escape the Midnight Sun with Benjamin Blake. Owen is known for imitating different accents instead of speaking normally. He is young and handsome, unlike the older staff at the spa.
Amber
Amber is one of Cass's classmates. She is described as the "nicest" girl in school. She loves two rich sisters called the Skelton sisters. She uses their lip balm, "Smoochies," and gives her old ones to friends. Cass often gets one, thinking Amber feels sorry for her.
Gloria Fortune
Gloria Fortune is a probate specialist, which means she helps clear out and sell the homes of people who have died. Cass and Max-Ernest accidentally enter a house she is clearing. She loves to gossip. She visits the Midnight Sun as a guest and recognizes Cass there. After the events, she doesn't remember what happened, thinking it was a dream.
Sebastian
Sebastian is Cass's blind dog. He uses his strong sense of smell to navigate and is known as the "Seeing-Nose Dog."
The Story So Far
A Mysterious Box
Gloria Fortune, who handles houses of people who have passed away, finds a strange box. It's called "The Symphony of Smells." She finds it in a dead magician's house. Gloria then drops the box off at Cass's grandfathers' junk store. The next day, Cass takes the Symphony of Smells to school.
Meeting Max-Ernest
At school, Cass is looking into why a rat died in the schoolyard. She meets Max-Ernest, who talks a lot and loves jokes. Max-Ernest tries a joke on Cass. She tells him it doesn't make sense, which starts their conversation. Cass shows Max-Ernest the Symphony of Smells. Inside, they find a hidden message asking for help.
The Magician's House
Cass and Max-Ernest decide to visit the dead magician's house. They want to find out why he needed help. Working together, they go to the house and find the magician's secret journal. But then, Gloria Fortune arrives with a young couple looking for a house. This couple is Ms. Mauvais and Dr. L. They are also looking for the magician's journal. When they see the kids leaving with it, they follow Cass and Max-Ernest for hours, making threats. Luckily, the kids manage to get away.
Unlocking Secrets
Back home, the kids find a riddle on the first page of the journal. The rest of the pages seem empty. On the way to school the next day, Cass solves the riddle. She discovers that the magician's story is written underneath the journal's double-layered pages. She and Max-Ernest read the story. They learn that the magician, Pietro Bergamo, had a brother named Luciano. A beautiful blonde woman with an icy voice kidnapped Luciano when they were children.
Pietro and Luciano were synesthetic circus performers. This means their senses were mixed up in a special way. Pietro believed the "Golden Lady," as he called the blonde woman, was kidnapping synesthetic children. He found out a young Chinese violinist with the same condition was kidnapped years later by the same woman. After reading, Cass thinks the Golden Lady is Ms. Mauvais. But Max-Ernest points out that this can't be right. The story happened decades ago, long before Ms. Mauvais could have been born.
Benjamin Disappears
Meanwhile, something urgent happens at school: Benjamin Blake has disappeared. Cass believes Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais took him. She had seen them asking about Benjamin's art earlier. She also saw them leave in a limousine with "Midnight Sun Sensorium and Spa" written on it. However, Cass and Max-Ernest get into a fight. This makes it hard for them to work together to find Benjamin. But Cass feels it's her job to save him.
Inside The Midnight Sun
Cass looks through some spa brochures her mother collected. She decides to pretend to be one of the famous Skelton Sisters, who are rich socialites. She calls The Midnight Sun spa to pick her up in a limousine. A person named Daisy picks her up, and Dr. L greets her when she arrives. Cass then meets Owen, a young man who stutters and is assigned to be her butler.
After getting several spa treatments, Cass goes looking for Benjamin Blake. She ends up in Ms. Mauvais's office. Ms. Mauvais tells her there will be a surprise guest for dinner. The surprise guest is Max-Ernest, who came to save Cass! Ms. Mauvais demands the magician's journal. During the commotion, she discovers several pages are missing (they were already missing for Cass and Max-Ernest). Her glove slips off, showing the hand of a woman much older than the kids have ever seen.
Cass and Max-Ernest realize that all the Midnight Sun members are very old. They are alchemists searching for the Secret, which they believe will give them immortality. The kids soon find out that Dr. L is actually Luciano, Pietro's long-lost brother.
The Escape
Cass and Max-Ernest are locked in their room. But Owen reveals he is a spy and unties them. He asks them to tie him up instead. They go to a pyramid in the center of the spa grounds through a secret tunnel in Ms. Mauvais's office. They see Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais about to do something terrible to Benjamin's brain in front of hundreds of Midnight Sun members.
The kids throw scent bottles from the Symphony of Smells, spelling out "help." Dr. L goes wild, thinking his brother, Pietro Bergamo, has come to him. As Dr. L runs up the pyramid, the kids get scared he will see them. They throw a rope down a hole at the top of the pyramid to climb down. However, the rope catches fire, forcing them to leave another way. The Midnight Sun Spa burns down because of the fire. Cass and Max-Ernest manage to save Benjamin. Owen drives them home.
They return home with Owen, having completed their mission. A while later, Gloria drops off more boxes from the magician's house. At the bottom, the kids find useful gadgets from a secret sender named P.B.
