Ludlow Fitch escapes his parents and runs for his life, eventually finding himself in the village of Pagus Parvus. He is taken on as an apprentice by Joe Zabbidou, a strange man who has come to town to open up a pawn shop. But he takes secrets along with the chamber pots people bring him, and Ludlow has the job of recording the secrets in the Black Book.
The townspeople are enchanted with him as, one by one, they are able to pawn their secrets for cold, hard cash and that enables them to pay off Jeremiah Ratchet, the town bully. Story after story is told and duly recorded. All the while, the questions in Ludlow's mind are getting bigger and bigger. Who is Joe Zabbidou, and why is he doing this? Is he a good man or an evil man? What is the Black Book of Secrets? Does man control his own fate?
Ages 10-13 B00CC6RHWO 300 pages
Recommended by: Barb
