The Black Book of Secrets
The Black Book of Secretsby F.E. Higgins
When Ludlow Fitch runs away from his thieving parents in the City, he meets up with the mysterious Joe Zabbidou, who calls himself a secret pawnbroker, and who takes Ludlow as an apprentice to record the confessions of the townspeople of Pagus Parvus, where resentments are many and trust is scarce. (goodreads.com)
This book is freakin' awesome. It was a gift while I was in NYC and I couldn't wait to start it as just the look and feel (and smell!) of the book was making me salivate. I was so happy to discover that I also found the story as wonderful as the rest of the book.The story never mentions a date, but I felt like this was taking place in 1920s England or something there-abouts. People traveled by carriage and sold (stolen) teeth for money. The entire feel of the story matched the cover, the binding and the black pages to a "T". The book looks like an old, worn leather-bound novel. It's the same sort of binding that the Suddenly Supernatural books have, only much prettier on the inside (more like Prophecy of the Sisters).The book is 273 pages, complete with little author-addendums at the end that are just as interesting to read as the story itself. The story has this dark, gothic feel to it and at the same time you are drawn into the lives of Ludlow and the mysterious Mr. Zabbidou. You care about the townsfolk of Pagus Parvus and their secrets. You share Ludlow's frustration and confusion as to why Joe Zabbidou is not DOING SOMETHING to help these people who are so oppressed by the mean and nasty Jeremiah Ratchet.
Does this not look like the coolest book to you? It is. So pick it up.The writing in the book has a classic literature feel, only better (in my opinion, since I find anything "classic" terribly boring). The author does not write a dumbed-down middle grade book. I would have devoured this book when I was a kid - once I got into it. The element of mystery and suspense is so gripping and the characters feel so real. I honestly believed I had fallen into another world while reading and this is what reading is supposed to make you feel. I can imagine myself reading this on a rainy day at the trailer growing up. I admit that I probably would have passed it by on the bookshelf as a kid only because I have always leaned towards female protagonists and I don't think I would have liked that it was about a boy. But I know that had someone given it to me and I tried it I would have devoured it as I mentioned before.I am going to see if the bookstore near me has any other books by this author as she's someone I would like to read more from. I can imagine a sequel to this book about how the Secret Pawnbrokers came to be. I'd be interested in that, but I think this is a stand-alone novel. It was published in 2007, I will make sure to recommend this book to many people looking for something awesome in the middle grade range that is intelligent and attention grabbing.Tales From the Sinister City