Sekritz: If You're Reading This, It's Too Late

There's a special niche in kidlit aimed at quirky, smart kids with a sarcastic sense of humor.  The Lemony Snicket books rest here, as do the Benedict Society stories, and I've suspected that Pseudonymous Bosch's books also belong to it, and now that I've read If You're Reading This, It's Too Late, I can confirm it.  Alas, I can't interest my kids in this book, since they recoil from starting a series with the second book.

Max and Cass have interesting home lives, although Max's bifurcated home life probably seems amusing rather than horrific to kids.  They also confront puzzles and villains with a combination of homegrown skills and native intelligence, which often prove more affective against villains than against their school nemesis.  There's a nice interleaf between the annoyances caused by cliques or foolish teachers at school and the frustrations with working for a secret society against diabolical criminals.  There were no unexpectedly moving emotional truths, but I don't really need that in a book of this sort.

I'm glad my Reading the Library quest inspired me to finally read one of P.D.'s books, and I'll leave the first one lying around for my younger son when he has a little reading breathing space.  Too many choices frighten him.