The Black Book of Secrets by F. E. Higgins

Here's another selection from the Virginia Readers' Choice list.  The cover is intriguing, though hard to see in my small graphic.  The first sentence, if you don't count the "Note from the Author" is awesome: "When I opened my eyes I knew that nothing in my miserable life prior to that moment could possibly be as bad as what was about to happen."

And the premise is engaging: a mysterious "secret pawnbroker" and his assistant buy people's deepest, darkest secrets and write them down in (of course) The Black Book of Secrets.  It's a fast, engaging read, and it held my interest throughout.

All that said, this just didn't quite make it to the level of London Calling or Savvy (which I haven't yet blogged about).   First, I think the "I found this mysterious manuscript" bit is somewhat overdone. Though I couldn't, of course, at the moment name even one other author who does it.  (Dragonology?  Help me out here.)  Second, I think the mystery about the frog is probably not going to be a mystery to most middle school boys.  (In the book's defense, it's not critical that it be a mystery, but it would be more suspenseful if it were.) Third, the ending feels as though it ought to be satisfying, but I was disappointed.  I'm not going to go into too much about it here, because I think the ending will be quite satisfying to many.  Maybe it's just that I've read a lot (a lot a lot) of fantasy, and it just wasn't that surprising.  

Still, there have been plenty of times when I've read a book and thought "Ehh" (how do you spell that sound that goes with a shoulder shrug), and my middle schoolers have loved the book.  So I hope this is one of those times.

(PG-12: References to some nasty, intriguing things like body snatching and teeth pulling.)