The Black Book of Secrets

This is one of those books that bedclothes and flashlights were invented for. Young pickpocket Ludlow Fitch escapes his frightful parents in the City and finds himself in the remote village of Pagus Parvus. There he's taken in as apprentice by another newcomer to the village, Joe Zabbidou (as in "Zabbi Zabbi Dou!" this erstwhile Flintstones fan kept thinking), who's a pawnbroker of secrets -- that is, people tell him their deepest secrets while Ludlow records them in Joe's mysterious black book, and then Joe pays them. At first Ludlow naturally thinks the purpose is blackmail, but that isn't it at all . . .

I assume there's a paperback of this by now, but I haven't seen it. The hardback, though, is only $14.95, and I would say worth show more every penny. Not only is this a book you'll probably want to read again yourself, you're likely to find yourself forcing it on your friends. But that's not the only reason you might want to opt for the hardback. Whoever designed this (Susan Walsh for the book and Rich Deas for the cover, it says here) was obviously as nuts about the novel as I am, because everything about the production looks, feels and even smells appropriate for what's essentially a modern rendering of those books that have had generations of kids reading them obsessively and clandestinely. My only quibble with The Black Book of Secrets is that Higgins seems to be setting herself up at the end for a sequel or even a series, and this is a book that should be left to stand alone as the wonderful creation it is; any sequel can only, by its very existence, detract. show less

When his parents try to sell his teeth (fresh from his mouth) to get money for drink, Ludlow Fitch runs away from home. He finds himself in a town and comes into contact with Joe Zabbidou, a pawnbroker, not only of items but of secrets and the secrets he collects changes Pagus Parvus.

It's a fun, quick read. While there were parts that seemed a bit rushed and unexplained the story kept me reading.

Ludlow Fitch, a young boy (somewhere around 11-14) lives a hard life in the City, where his parents have taught him to pick-pocket for his and their livelihoods. When his parents and the dentist, Barton Gumbroot, try to pull his teeth out, one by one, for a small profit to his parents, Ludlow escapes his parents and the City and finds himself in the small town of Pagus Parvus.

There, he meets local tyrant Jeremiah Ratchet and the new secret pawnbroker, Joe Zabbidou. Zabbidou takes on Ludlow as his assistant and Ludlow begins to learn what a secret pawnbroker really does, why, and how the people of the world are impacted by it.

Zabbidou and his Black Book of Secrets, of which Ludlow becomes secretary and keeper, infuriate Ratchet, who sees show more his power slipping from him in an intolerable manner. Ratchet and his efforts to undermine and undo all the work that Zabbidou has done with his secret pawnbroking ultimately culminate in a town-wide confrontation, from which all the involved players will learn something.

Higgins creates a fast-paced, interesting, original, and fun tale. The story is subtly dark and subtly fantastic. This would be a great book (reading level) for older elementary school kids and younger middle schoolers. Of course Higgins' story can appeal to all levels, and I quite enjoyed my read! show less

Ludlow Fitch, a young boy (somewhere around 11-14) lives a hard life in the City, where his parents have taught him to pick-pocket for his and their livelihoods. When his parents and the dentist, Barton Gumbroot, try to pull his teeth out, one by one, for a small profit to his parents, Ludlow escapes his parents and the City and finds himself in the small town of Pagus Parvus.

There, he meets local tyrant Jeremiah Ratchet and the new secret pawnbroker, Joe Zabbidou. Zabbidou takes on Ludlow as his assistant and Ludlow begins to learn what a secret pawnbroker really does, why, and how the people of the world are impacted by it.

Zabbidou and his Black Book of Secrets, of which Ludlow becomes secretary and keeper, infuriate Ratchet, who sees show more his power slipping from him in an intolerable manner. Ratchet and his efforts to undermine and undo all the work that Zabbidou has done with his secret pawnbroking ultimately culminate in a town-wide confrontation, from which all the involved players will learn something.

Higgins creates a fast-paced, interesting, original, and fun tale. The story is subtly dark and subtly fantastic. This would be a great book (reading level) for older elementary school kids and younger middle schoolers. Of course Higgins' story can appeal to all levels, and I quite enjoyed my read! show less

This is a magical story about a young boy, Ludlow Fitch who leaves his rotten parents and meets up with Joe Zabbidou, a secret pawnbroker. Joe is opening his pawnshop in a poor town that is controlled by an evil man who delights in kicking people out of their homes. Joe can't solve their problems, or the problems of Ludlow, but he encourages people to be patient and good things will come...

The story is charming but has a few important twists that young people might miss. Without them, the story is a bit confusing.

I can't remember where I heard about this book but it's been on my Must Read list for ages. It happened to be available in the library on my last trip there so I picked it up. I couldn't remember anything about it and when I read the blurb on the back, it didn't sound awfully appealing. I needed a book to read on a train journey as I'd just finished The Secret Supper and as this was a smallish book, I took it with me. I finished it in three days. It was so much better than I'd expected!

The plot is very simple: a mysterious man arrives in the village and buys people's secrets. Obviously, there's more to it than that but I don't want to spoil it because it's one of those books which all ties together at the last minute and you realise show more that even the most random and insignificant details were actually part of the whole thing. It's very cleverly written and very engrossing.

It's set in some unspecified time and place, although it would definitely be historical and seemed to me to be somewhere in England, or maybe an alternate version. It had a certain Dickensian air to it, part of which I think comes from the writing style which is quaintly formal and archaic. There's also the aspect of a lord of the manor type who owns the village which again ties in with the Dickens style. It has some rather gruesome moments, some of which are rather revolting but which I'm sure would still appeal to children in the way that Roald Dahl's gruesomeness does. There are some lovely amusing moments in the story which lift it every so often.

The main characters are well written. Ludlow Fitch, the young runaway, is the main focus of the book and it's told from his point of view. He would certainly appeal to younger readers, I found him a little annoying, especially with his more stupid moments. I found Joe Zabbidou, the pawnbroker, to be much more appealing. He was very mysterious and ever so charming and charismatic, in a manner not unlike that of The Doctor. All the way through, I could see him as a mixture of Tom Baker's eccentricity and attire with David Tennant's charm and enthusiasm.

It all tied up nicely at the end where various mysteries about Joe and his life were explained. It could easily stand on its own as a one-off but I'm guessing that there's going to be at least one sequel. The nature of the pawnbroker does lend itself easily to a series of adventures, although it could also go down the same road as the Discworld and be a series about the area rather than following Joe and Ludlow. Either way, it was a very enjoyable read and definitely recommended reading. show less

Ludlow runs away from his parents in the city when they try to pull his teeth out so they can have more gin money. He immediately hops on the back of a carriage and ends up in small mountain village where things are very wrong. The local lord has everyone in debt to him and he is using that debt to perform illegal activities. Ludlow ends up working for Joe Zabidou a pawn broker who also deals in secrets. Ludlow wants to trust Joe but he also feels like should do something about the land lord but he wants it to be legal. Ludlow is torn but it quickly becomes clear that the town can't take much more.

Quick, dark mysterious read. Very enjoyable.