You Have to Read This!

*Attention: Your reporter, Julianna, is being held under our custody for ruining the secret Secret series that may or may not secretly contain the Secret. In her place we have ask for you to run out and grab as many copies as you can before The Midnight Sun can get their hands on the secretive Secret. Thank you. Resume, if you must, but just as a final cry of help... You Have to Stop This!*

You Have to Stop This
By: Pseudonymous Bosch
Reported by: Juli... (<-- that's, um, totally not me.)

In this fifth and final (I swear!) book in my saga of secrets, a class trip to the local natural history museum turns dangerous, or perhaps deadly—and I don't mean in the bored-to-death way—when Cass accidentally breaks a finger off a priceless mummy. Forced to atone for this "crime" of vandalization, Cass and her friends Max-Ernest and Yo-Yoji go to work for the mummy exhibit's curator, only to be blamed when the mummy disappears. To clear their names—and, they hope, to discover the Secret—the trio must solve the case of the missing mummy themselves.

In the midst of it all, there's still a Secret lurking. Will it finally be revealed? Why should I tell you that?! No matter what I do, no amount of warning seems to stick. You're still out there, reading and talking about the Secret, and now my life—and chocolate supply—is in the greatest danger yet! So please, with a cherry on top, I'm begging you! You have to stop this.

-Summary from Goodreads

Hey, guys! I'm back! They're watching every word I'm typing, though, so I better be careful before all of my chocolate supply is gone and M- I mean, um, others take it for their own pleasure.

You Have to Stop This is the fifth and final book in the critically acclaimed Secret series by Pseudonymous Bosch. If you haven't read the series yet, the first book is The Name of This Book is Secret. Don't read this book without reading the rest of the series first!

I'll start out by answering the one question that everyone wants to know (AKA the one question that may very well cost my chocolate supply): Do we learn the Secret?

...Yes...
...No...
Kind of.

Here's the thing: I loved this book (hey, look! My chocolate, it's back!). There was just as much suspense, humor, and fun in this book like the other ones in the series. We learn so much more about the characters' backgrounds, and this book was truly astounding--it definitely surpassed my expectations.  It's very clever on Mr. Bosch's part to add in his usual footnotes and brief interruptions, which works out well and the reader isn't suddenly jolted out from the story with sudden, certain comics concerning rabbits and cats...

Anyway, this book held my attention throughout its entirety. However, the Secret was just... unexpected. I knew the Secret was something big--that much was obvious--but this time, even surprised doesn't justify my reaction. Truly, I was shocked. In fact, I'm still teetering on the fence about how I felt about it. I do have to applaud Mr. Bosch, though, for taking that one big leap.

Overall, this book was wonderfully written and I enjoyed it greatly. I appreciated Mr. Bosch not wrapping up everything and all the characters' futures in a nice, tidy bow, because the very important theme of this story is the Secret and imagination--and I'm sure we all want to hope for the characters a life they deserve (whether good or bad, that's your call).

What's that? There's a note on my chocolate... its empty wrapper.
*You Have to Stop This!*

Fine. I'll stop. But you better stop stealing my chocolate... hey, give that back!

What's the point of chocolate?

(Original here)

I'm going to admit something. Something that will make your jaw drop and shake your head and possibly uproot a tree (or maybe that's just me).

I did not like chocolate.

Notice how I said DID. Past tense.

Here's the story: From sometime in my youth, I had decided: I hate chocolate! Every time a friend offered me a piece of chocolate, I valiantly declined. And then they would stare at me like I've grown an extra head, and then they would smile, say thanks, and engulf the chocolate.

About four months ago, something happened. I was very stressed, because it was testing month. I was staying up late and reading textbooks and completing worksheets and I was a mess. One day during math, I was so bummed out that when my friend Poiema asked me if I wanted a Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar, I said yes. I bought it for a dollar, because I remember hearing somewhere that chocolate makes you feel better. So... I ate it, and for the rest of the day I was okay. I wasn't happy, but I wasn't feeling terrible, either. And that motivated me. With more chocolate, I slowly started to climb back up from the stacks of pressure.

Chocolate woke me up.

I stopped kicking myself (figuratively) for not reading three units of my science book in one night (which I actually did, by the way, out of necessity). I embraced the tests with open arms. And the end result? 600. Perfect score.

*toots imaginary horn*

What is the point of this? The point is, don't be afraid to try new things. Step outside of your comfort zone. Take a risk. Apply that to writing. Because no matter how deep you are in doubt, there is always a way out. Don't ever give up hope, and keep trying.

And of course, keep eating chocolate.