The Book of Secrets

The mayor asks young "solutioneer" Max to discover who's behind the city's rash of vandalism. Meanwhile, Max's parents appear to be acting as royalty in a tiny (fictional) South American country. Voigt's talent for balancing various narrative threads ensures that any one subplot can take the lead and then recede without losing tension. Bruno's black-and-white pencil and ink drawings entertainingly highlight Max's disguises.

Max Starling, an independent twelve-year-old who was seemingly abandoned by his parents in Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things (rev. 9/13), returns with his costumes and disguises to take on more jobs in his self-created occupation of "solutioneer." Having learned that his parents, both performers, are now acting as royalty in the tiny (fictional) South American country of Andesia, Max writes them a letter posing as a curious seven-year-old girl, but the polite response he receives seems to be in code. Meanwhile, Max's work in Queensbridge gets a boost when the mayor, nervous in advance of the king's annual visit, asks the young solutioneer to discover who is behind the rash of fires and vandalism plaguing the city. Max fairly easily uncovers the cause -- a gang of boys demanding protection money -- but then gets in over his head. Voigt's talent for balancing various narrative threads (Max also helps a lonely boy, a worried father, and a lovesick ferryman) ensures that any one subplot can take the lead and then recede without losing tension. Bruno's black-and-white pencil and ink drawings depict the grand cast of characters and entertainingly highlight Max's theatrical disguises. Most engagingly, the value of sustained creative thought is given pride of place in this volume, which promises even greater adventures in the projected next entry. anita l. burkam