Publishers Weekly
07/14/2014
Twelve-year-old Clay’s misgivings about magic are tested in this enjoyable if overlong trilogy opener. Max-Ernest, from Bosch’s bestselling Secret Series, has disappeared mysteriously. His younger brother Clay is left feeling stung and resentful, and he’s as shocked as everyone else when the words “MAGIC SUCKS!” somehow—almost magically—migrate from his private journal to a classroom wall. This inexplicable graffiti mural gets Clay sent to Earth Ranch, a summer camp for “struggling youth” located on an island with an active volcano. Bosch’s arch narrative voice carries over from his previous books, and that humor helps buoy a story that takes its time getting to the big revelations of its final chapters. From The Tempest and Lord of the Flies to shows like Gilligan’s Island and Lost, cultural allusions abound as Clay tries to understand the island’s many mysteries and meets his fellow campers. Gilbert’s watercolors bring in additional humor, especially a scene of Clay’s mother Skyping in to a family meeting. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Sarah Burnes, the Gernert Company. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Sept.)
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."
School Library Journal - Audio
12/01/2014
Gr 3–7—Bosch here begins a humorous trilogy centered on Clay, a wiggly, almost-13-year-old boy whose older brother, Max Ernest, is a magician gone missing. The older boy has soured Clay's interest in sleight-of-hand and card tricks. When the soon-to-be teen is falsely accused of writing, "Magic Sucks" on a wall, Clay's psychologist parents arrange a summer stay at a volcanic island camp called Earth Ranch. Once at the cloud-shrouded island, he finds a quirky camp with odd counselors and kids, plus llamas and rules enforced by guard bees. With elements of Shakespeare's The Tempest sprinkled throughout the tale, Clay discovers a ghostly girl, an abandoned library, and an eccentric custodian. Curious questions continue to emerge until Clay finally uncovers the true, but not evil, nature of the camp. Narrator Joshua Swanson creates identifiable personalities for all the characters. The sound quality is excellent, but the commercial packaging will need reinforcing before circulation. A PDF of Gilbert Ford's illustrations can expand student engagement with this upbeat title that is likely to intrigue upper elementary and middle school readers.—Barbara Wysocki, formerly with Cora J. Belden Library, Rocky Hill, CT
School Library Journal
10/01/2014
Gr 4–6—Bosch is back with a novel that's part mystery, part adventure. This series opener features sixth grader Clay, the younger brother of the hero from Bosch's popular "Secret" books (Little, Brown). After an incident with some graffiti, Clay finds himself spending his summer at Earth Ranch, a camp for delinquent youth on a remote volcanic island. While at camp, Clay encounters a motley crew of eccentric kids; a llama that understands Spanish; a mysterious library; and, perhaps, even a bit of magic. Bosch employs, to great effect, his signature irreverence and hilarity packed into parenthetical asides and footnotes. The end result is a wacky, suspenseful mashup of Shakespeare's The Tempest and a summer camp tale that is a delight to read. Bad Magic is a clever and playful novel. An excellent addition to middle grade fiction collections.—Amy Koester, Skokie Public Library
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)
