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I told my mother - age, 80 plus - about all the books I read while away and she asked, "Have you read any more books about that boy who starts a detective business?"  Um?  I honestly could not remember the series she was referring to.  It had to be a book I lent to her but...

Then she added, "His parents were in the theater.  And he called himself something like a solver."

Bing!  YES!  Mister Max by Cynthia Voigt.  And, no, I had not read the second book in the series.  But, now I have!!!  I am so lucky my mother has a good memory.

Mister Max : The Book of Secrets  continues the story of Max Starling, or Mister Max, Solutioneer.  The problems Max must solve range from a schoolboy's concerns about the boy's father, to the mayor's problems with arson in the Old City.  There is a possible romance, a coded letter from Max's missing parents, and some spatting with his self-proclaimed assistant, Pia Bendiff. 

Max's grandmother has some secrets of her own that Max has to unravel as well. 

Voigt travels into dangerous territory here, as in, Max finds himself in peril, tied up and blindfolded.  And, the coded letter makes his parents' plight all too real.  Max and his grandmother have to do something to bring Max's parents home.

Max is an astonishingly perspicacious 12-year-old.  He is able to phrase questions and offer solutions in the most convincing and subtle ways.  When it comes to his personal life and the people closest to him, he does not see things that clearly.  Whew!  I was afraid he was going to be a super-teen.  I enjoy his stubborn streak and I want to shake him all at the same time. His insistence on being independent, even though he found the money his father hid in their house, is a little maddening. He's lucky his grandmother is so understanding!

 I think I will pre-order Mister Max : The Book of Kings so my mother doesn't have to remind me of the books I want to read.

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On Wednesday, I headed off to a meeting with the Summer Staff from PCL, my former hangout.  One of these staff people is my successor; two are teen volunteers I have known and loved - and trained - for years; one is my trusty sidekick who is now my successor's trusty sidekick - and the only person there who wasn't at least 30 years younger than I am!!!!  Guess which one got sick and couldn't show up.  I miss you, Trusty Sidekick.

There is a certain joy only attained when you spend time with people who ALSO read books, lots and lots and LOTS of books, and who ALSO enjoy talking about books.  It's like a reunion of the tribe.  The BooksRockians together again.  So awesome! (Even if they ARE all 30 + years younger than I am.)

But to make this outing even more awesome, I found an ARC of Cynthia Voigt's Mister Max : The Book of Lost Things on the doorstep as I raced out the door.  Ooh baby, and no, kind successor, the book is NOT for you.

I started the book and I can foresee trouble at the start.  Max's parents are actors - trouble right there.  Max's parents have been offered a job working for a Maharajah in far-off India - nonononono!  Don't take that job.  At first, Max is not included in this offer.  Now, that was the most ominous of the conditions of the job - because the book is about Max.  It says so in the title.  So, if Max is not invited, then something is amiss.  So far, that something has not happened.  But it will!!  And it will probably involve things that have been mislaid - such as ...children?  elephants?  bicycles?  Stay tuned.

Or buy the book yourself.  It's in bookstores on September 10th.

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