THE NAME OF THIS BOOK IS SECRET

Though less common than their Harry Potter brethren, the Lemony Snicket imitators continue to crop up. Max-Ernst and Cassandra weren’t likely friends from the start. Cass has pointy ears and wants to be prepared for every emergency (hence the backpack full of supplies she always carries). As for Max-Ernst, he can’t stop talking. No one can diagnose the source of this problem, and it makes him a bit of a social pariah. When Cass discovers the mysterious accoutrements of a dead magician, she enlists Max-Ernst’s help in determining whether or not the posthumous illusionist left clues amongst his belongings asking for help. What the kids discover instead is a cult of powerful men and women bent on immortality that will stop at nothing to preserve (one way or another) their way of life. The title references the tone of Lemony Snicket time and time again without ever conjuring up the same wit and wisdom. The story line is often engaging, but its ubiquitous narrative trope comes across as more annoying than insightful. (Fiction. 9-12)