Mister Max: The Book of Secrets by Cynthia Voigt (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Mister Max: The Book of Secrets by Cynthia Voigt Elizabeth Bush Voigt, Cynthia Mister Max: The Book of Secrets. Knopf, 2014 [356p] (Mister Max) Library ed. ISBN978-0-375-97124-2 $19.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-307-97684-0 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-7 It’s been just six weeks since twelve-year-old Max’s parents were waylaid and spirited off to a South American country (in The Book of Lost Things, BCCB 10/13), and although locating and rescuing the pair is high on the boy’s priority list, so is staking his own claim to independence as a “Solutioneer,” a self-created career mashup of problem-solving and detection. In this round, Max tackles issues small and large, from the plea of a schoolboy to discover what his father does when he slips out at night (with a sweetly benign conclusion), to the Queensbridge mayor’s request to solve a series of small business arsons, an investigation that leads directly to Max’s kidnapping and a theatrical performance by his friends. The series continues to be distinguished by Voigt’s successful melding of genuine tension and humane approaches to thorny problems. As the cast of local characters grows, so does the character of the city of Queensbridge as a robust fictional setting. Max, his grandmother, and his friends may not be in residence too much longer, though, as the save-the-parents plot heats up and a trip to Andesia is likely to whisk them all into further adventure and—dare we hope?—danger. Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois