Bad Magic

by Pseudonymous Bosch Narrated by Joshua Swanson

Overview

The magical, bestselling series from Pseudonymous Bosch, the author of the Secret Series!

Magic is BAD.

As in fake. Cheesy. Unreal. At least, that's what Clay, who has seen one magic show too many, thinks.

When words from his journal appear mysteriously on his school wall as graffiti, he never imagines that magic might be to blame. And when the same graffiti lands him at Earth Ranch, a camp for "troubled" kids on a remote volcanic island, magic is the last thing he expects to find there.

But at Earth Ranch, there is one strange surprise after another, until Clay no longer knows what to expect. Is he really talking to a llama? Did he really see a ghost? What is the scary secret hidden in the abandoned library? The only thing he knows for sure is that behind the clouds of vog (volcanic smog), nothing is as it seems. Can he solve the riddle of Earth Ranch before trouble erupts?

Elusive author Pseudonymous Bosch introduces an extraordinary new series that will have you believing in the unbelievable.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for The Name of This Book is Secret:
"Equal parts snarky and delightful."—Booklist"

Equal parts supernatural whodunit, suspense-filled adventure, and evocative coming-of-age tale."—Publishers Weekly

Praise for Write This Book:
"...A marvelous tutorial, covering everything from how to write effective dialogue to choosing perspective to genre to world-building...Writing a book has never been so much fun. A must-have where the "Secret" series is popular."—School Library Journal

Booklist

Praise for The Name of This Book is Secret:
"Equal parts snarky and delightful."

Kirkus Reviews

2014-07-15
Very little is as it seems at a survival camp for "troubled" teens in this trilogy opener. Still deeply upset nearly two years after the disappearance of his stage-magician older brother, Clay writes "Magic sucks!" in a notebook after turning in a blank paper on Shakespeare's Tempest. He's astounded to find the sentiment painted on a wall at school the next day—with his signature. The resultant fallout lands him on a remote Pacific island, where he encounters peers named Leira (spell it backward) and Mira, a grotesque puppet dubbed "Caliban" and a llama with a sign on its neck reading "Hola. Cómo se llama? Yo me llamo Como C. Llama." He also discovers not one but two libraries of rare books—one stocked with oddly behaving grimoires. After climbing a live volcano and sliding back down on a board, he discovers (as he had been suspecting for some time) that it's all been a setup—further developments to come. "Bosch," a confirmed Lemony Snicket bandwagoneer, repeatedly interrupts with authorial rants, pleas and footnotes. The Shakespearean parallels aren't particularly integral to the plot, and the twists, Como's sign apart, are more inscrutable than clever. The book comes complete with multiple appendices and Ford's illustrations (not seen for review). Clay is Everykid enough ("almost handsome, in a dried-snot-on-his-sleeve sort of way") to keep readers hanging around to see what happens to him next. (Fantasy. 12-14)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170176267
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	09/16/2014
Series:	Bad Books Series , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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