This Book Is Not Good For You (Secret - Bk 3) (The Secret Series

Gold Star Award Winner!

Cass, Max-Ernest, and Yo-Yogi are in the middle of another mystery.

Señor Hugo, great chocolate experimenter, Dr. L, and Ms. Mauvais are holding Cass' mom captive. The ransom: the legendary Tuning Fork, an instrument that can turn any food or drink into whatever the owner wishes.

Now, Cass and her friends will have to battle deadly sweets, crazy puzzles, and other sinister things in order to defeat Hugo and get her mother back. Where is the great Tuning Fork? Can Cass and her friends stop Hugo from achieving his evil desires?

A fun, action-packed adventure for reluctant readers, the puzzles are especially fun to solve. The humorous chocolate facts and puns are entertaining. The characters are well-developed, and the plot is fun and uniquely crafted. Those who like action, adventure, and mystery stories will truly enjoy reading THIS BOOK IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU.

Reviewed by: Kira M

Bosch is back with the third installment in the Secret series, and it's a strong return! I still maintain that the first book was the best in the series thus far, but I did enjoy this one more than I enjoyed the second book in the series. The parallels between Bosch's series and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events are uncanny--both are whimsical and often break the fourth wall, with the author mysteriously inserting themselves into the plot. The book often resorts to using quirky formatting, which makes it all the more enjoyable (and might, in fact, be my favorite thing about these books). The ending definitely leaves you wanting to know more, and I'm excited to get my hands on This Isn't What It Looks Like

In this new book, Pseudonymous Bosch highlights the importance of family, friends, how and when to keep secrets to yourself, and, of course, the Tuning Fork! Bosch's delightful new edition to the Secret Series kept me in complete suspense as Cass, Max-Ernest, and Yo-Yoji tread once more on the Midnight Sun's toes during their quest for the Tuning Fork and the Secret. The way that he pulled Cass's mom (henceforth known as Mel) thick into the plot was a truly ingenious twist! Bosch's imagination runs wild, even at Wild World. While the El Castillo de La Noche was supposed to be a 'bad' restaurant, I would love to dine there one time! Overall, I loved this book!

This is the reading letter from my daughter who read the book.

By Jamie Liu (10yrs)

If you had to choose, what will you rather do on a weekend? Watch movies or read books? To me, I would like to spend my time on a little of both of these choices. For this reason, the book Wonder Struck by Brian Selznick was a perfect choice for me, since it was similar to watching a movie while reading this book. In this breathtaking adventure, two children of different time periods both have the same wish of changing their lives. Ben wonders day and night about his unknown father, and when his mother died, all the clues about his father seemed to disappear forever. Rose dreams about a famous actress, whose life was chronicled in her scrapbook. When Ben finds a mysterious bookmark belonging to his father and when Rose discovers a peculiar news heading, both children set out alone on a quest to find what they are missing in their lives.

On page 25 of part one, the author, Brian Selznick described Ben’s curiosity about his father, “Ben never knew anything about his father. The one time when he hinted around the subject to his mom, she’d tightened her ponytail a few times and then undid it altogether. As her long black hair spilled down around her shoulders, her eyes filled with tears. Ben had never seen his mother cry before, and it startled him, so he didn’t ask again. Right afterward she’d put on her favorite record and played a mysterious song called “Space Oddity”, about an astronaut named Major Tom who gets lost in space. She used to listen to the song over and over again. With her eyes closed, she’d place the palm of her hand against the fabric of the speaker, so she could feel it vibrate against her skin.” When I read to that part, I asked myself a question: Why will she put her palm against the speaker to hear it vibrate? I read the paragraph over and over until suddenly, I remembered something from another book. The book was called Helen Keller, and a part of it said, “Deaf people, like Helen, can also ‘listen’ to music. They just place their hand over the speaker and will be able to feel the vibration.” Through that, I inferred that Ben’s mother was deaf. I think that it is highly likely that she is deaf because Ben was born deaf in one ear, and he probably got it from his mother.

On pages 346-350, Rose goes to a museum and sees a meteorite on display. The description says meteorites start as comets flying through the sky. Rose thought that “If you could make a wish when a shooting star is flying, can you make it when it hits earth as a meteorite?” She wrote, “I wish I belonged somewhere” on a small piece of paper, folded it, and placed it on the meteorite. At first, I found it really weird of her to do that, but later on, I thought that if I were her, I would do it too. In fact, I will likely write the same thing as her. Sometimes, both at school and at home, I feel that I don’t belong anywhere: I just play with anyone at recess. Usually at school, the teacher will ask us to work in partners and she will just let us choose who to work with. Since we have 19 people in our class, there is an odd number left, leaving one person alone. That person is almost always me, because I don’t belong in any group. In the end, I will just work alone, usually feeling very sympathetic for myself. This connection of Rose and I made it much easier to know how she felt, and it was easier to comprehend the story in Rose’s point of view.

When I read this book, I enjoyed how Brian Selznick plays around with the format. On page 24, he described how Ben felt about his mom after he died. At first, they were going to a museum in Duluth with his mother. He wrote, “Ben wiped his hand across his eyes, as if he were rubbing away the vision of Duluth. He put the bird skull back into the box and thought of all the time he’d spent at his mom’s library after school, reading up on birds or outer space and doing homework. If only he’d been there on the day of the accident instead of sick at home. Surely he could have done something to help her. At the very least he would have seen the snow and ice accumulating on the road and reminded her to put on her seat belt. How he wished he could go back in time.” Notice how the author didn’t just say, “Ben felt really sad that his mother died. He was sick at home that day, and his mother drove on ice without putting on her seatbelt then sadly, died in a car accident.” Instead, he used a ‘show not tell’ technique to let the reader do the thinking. This makes the book more intriguing to read, and it also helps younger readers learn different techniques.

I think that this book is spectacular, and fully recommend it to people from 4th and 5th grade, since the vocabulary is difficult for 3rd graders. The adventure of the two main characters are really risky, and there is suspense lurking in every direction—one moment you know for sure who might be your father, the next, you are clueless and discouraged, knowing it was silly to escape and go on an adventure alone. If you have no interest in reading but will basically beg on your knees to watch a movie, then this is probably the golden choice for your book. Ben’s adventure is told in words, and Rose’s quest described in pictures that Brian Selznick drew himself. You will be surprised at the symmetry of those two children’s tales. The words and pictures weave back and forth to make a perfect tapestry, leaving you wonder struck and dazed from your head to your toes. Another book by Brian Selznick is The Invention Of Hugo Cabret, which won a Caldecott Medal. If you enjoy reading a book with a lot of suspense and action, with a bonus of pictures and emotion, then Wonder Struck will be the just right choice for you. Now open the book, read it slowly to let the words sink into your soul. Before you close it, read it again, this time to let the story of two brave children be carved in your heart. This book needs the reader to be careful, to pay attention, to feel wonder struck at the end.

Jamie

Wonderful storyline! Great suspense! This is one of best books I have read in the past few years. The entire series (so far as I have read) is excellent.

The author uses a rather strange, informal format of storytelling. He discusses his (perceived) role in the story and tells us about himself. I don't think this adds to the plot. In fact, I think it distracts the reader from the overall point of the story.

fine for kids. No bad language. entertaining for adults as well. I've read it about 3 times. I think this is really Michael Connelly writing under this name because one of his main detectives in his adult books is Hieronymous Bosch and at least one of his books was published by the same house as the version I read of "This Book is not good for you". But of course I can't prove it.

Imagine your mother being kidnapped by a crazy chef with a big knife collection. Or having three-hundred year old people that can find you wherever you are hunt you down because you may or may not know a secret. The series you want to read now is, The Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch. I just finished the third book out of 5 and couldn't put them down. These books are irresistible.
Cass, Max-Ernest, and Yo-Yoji are three kids brought together by a secret, a secret no one knows where to find. The three after brought together join a secret group called the Terces society. Their arch rivals The Midnight Sun, a group of villains, that want to know the secret and they think Cass knows it. In order to do this they hired a chef named Hugo to go and kidnap Cass's mother so Cass would tell them the secret. Blackmail is what The Midnight Sun are doing. The trio has to find a magic Tuning Fork for chef Hugo to make anything he wants, Specifically a piece of chocolate that when the consumer eats it they will tell all their secrets.

Well, Pseudo has done it again with his witty and fun to read writing. His book includes everything from comedy to adventure to Mystery and most importanly chocolate. This third installment in the fanominom(if thats how you spell it) book series is all about chocolate. Unfortunetley I really cant tell you anything without giving the story away:( so you will just have to buy the book-which you definitley should do!!!
The only bad part about the book was when I finished it!!!
This book was amazing and only secong best to the Harry Potter series.

These books are so good! The series was recommended to me by a friend and I'm so glad she told me about it! I literally yelled out in frustration when I finished it. I would not recommend this book to someone who doesn't like cliffhangers!

everybody should read this book. it is very interesting with its suspense. This book might interest you because it has chocolate inside. Cass and Max-Earnest are the people that have to stop the evil chef hugo. They also have a friend Yo-Yoji to help them.

Readers. You are about to enter a journey of your lives. This book is not only funny but suspenseful. It will make you read and read until you parents scream "Go to sleep!" I select this book to everyone but mostly peoples that love adventure books and funny ones. P Bosch has created another beauty.

I'm in 4th grade. I like stories with characters that act like they are somebody else and then later transform back into who they are. This book is the best of all the other books in the secret series! The characters act more interestingly. Chapters 29 to 35 are the best, they are so good. One character in these chapters acts really funny. I didn't want the character to change back because he was acting so funny.

There is one mistake in the book. Something is intentionally wrong with the book from pages 157 to 159.

This book is filled with mysteries and choclate. (be careful about who you take choclate from) This another great book and i loved it but now i'm craving some choclate! More disguises from Owen and secrets. Even birds with yellow mowhawks and tame lions. You should read this book!

Katie Williamson,TN
This is one of my All Time favorite books! Pseudonymous is SO SO SO hilarious! this is a MUST read for someone who enjoyed Lemony Snicket or The MYsterious Benedict Society! So stop reading reviews and just buy the book!

waffles r awsome and amazing they r sooooooo cool i love waffles ya that is going to become a hit song one day by sarah helen skelton (jackson,ms) dont deny the amazingness of ms drivin tractors everywhere(not really) we all got a hilly billy bone deep in side thats a good song! (GO MSU (mississippi state university) bulldogs ole miss stinks and nobody likes them because they r blackbears and really weird an we beat them 2 years in a row hahahaha dan 2 houston nuttin GO STATE)