Publisher and Publication Date: Knopf Books for Young Readers. 2013.
Genre: Young adult. Grades 3 to 7. Fiction.
Pages: 374.
Source: NetGalley eBook. I received a complimentary eBook copy from NetGalley, I was not required to write a positive review.
Audience: Middle school readers.
Rating: Good.
Illustrations are by Iacopo Bruno who is a graphic artist and illustrator living in Italy.
Website for Cynthia Voigt
Goodreads page for Voigt’s books
Two further books are in this series: Book 2-The Book of Secrets, Book 3-The Book of Kings.
I’d accepted the invitation to read this book from NetGalley several years ago. It has sat in the shelf unread and unreviewed until now.
Summary:
Max Starling is a 12 year old boy who lives with his parents. They are actors at a theatrical company. Max’s parents are invited to India. Max is to join them in their travel. On the day they are to board the ship, Max cannot find the ship nor his parents. He gets a strange note telling him to stay with Grammie. Grammie is a librarian.
My Thoughts:
I like the idea of the story more than the story itself.
Max has been left behind. He and his parents are separated and Max has no idea what happened. In the process of trying to figure out the mystery, Max begins helping others. Max becomes Mr. Max, a detective. He has a few jobs doing detective work. Each assignment builds with importance.
I like the form or structure of the story, but feel something is missing. It’s possible I was looking for resolution about Max and his missing parents in book 1. I definitely wanted a strong adventure story and this one fell flat.
I love Grammie. She’s a cool librarian.
I wrestled with an okay or good rating. I settled on good.
Impressions In Ink 