Once I have a good idea for a blog post I like to get the most out of it, which usually means turning it into a series of posts. I have already rated the Famous Five titles and have half had it in my mind to rate other Enid Blyton book titles.

Only, all the Adventure and Secret series titles are very straight forward, as are the Five Find-Outers and the Barney Mysteries…

But the Secret Seven are all extremely vague so I feel like I can summon up a few thousand words on that!

My personal view is that a good book title is one which tells you just enough about the book’s plot to make you want to read it. If it’s part of a long series it should also contain something that helps you differentiate it from the other books.

Some of the following book suggestions are serious, some are me mucking about as despite criticising the actual titles I couldn’t do any better. I’ll let you make up your own mind which are which.

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The Secret Seven

What else would you call a book about the Secret Seven, other than… The Secret Seven?

Well, maybe something that told you a bit more about what happens in the book, and isn’t the same as the title of the series, meaning nobody knows if you’re talking about book 1 or all the books.

I actually have no idea what happens in almost any Secret Seven book as none of the titles are descriptive with the exception of Secret Seven Fireworks, but I’m sure there are actually fireworks in more than one title!

Anyway, this first one is about them restarting the Secret Seven in winter and sees them build a snowman. Having lost his Secret Seven badge in the snow Jack discovers strange goings on at an empty house near by, leading them to investigating.

Other title for this book could be Winter Adventure for The Secret Seven, or Secret Seven’s Winter Adventure, Secret Seven in the Snow or Secret Seven and the Empty House.

As this is the first book and it’s not too hard to remember that the first book is eponymously titled, I’ll be generous on the star rating.

⭐⭐⭐

 

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Secret Seven Adventure

And here we fall straight into the issue that several Famous Five titles had. This could apply to all 15 books. Sure, some are slightly more adventurous, and others are more mysterious, but they’re all adventures of some kind.

The adventure in this case is investigating the theft of a necklace after seeing a man climbing a tree outside the house it went missing from.

Alternative titles could have been Secret Seven and the Jewel Thieves (or Thief, not sure how many there actually were, but I was inspired by one of my other favourites, Jessi and the Jewel Thieves), Secret Seven Catch a Thief or Secret Seven and the Stolen Necklace.

⭐

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Well Done, Secret Seven

Continuing the vague theme, here we are congratulating the Secret Seven for… solving a mystery? Helping someone? Doing well at school? Who knows!

(Certainly not me – I’m having to look up synopses/reviews in order to briefly summarise them and come up with alternative titles.)

The story of this one is a bit more familiar to me – this is the one where they move their meetings to a tree house, only to discover another boy has been using it too, and he’s in trouble.

Other titles could be Secret Seven and the Runaway (though that could be confused with the later book about the runaway school girl) or Secret Seven and the Treehouse.

⭐

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Secret Seven on the Trail

This is… almost descriptive. But on the trail of WHAT? They’re on the trail of something in pretty much every book.

This is the one where Susie forms the “Famous Five” and fakes a mystery, which then turns into a real one.

I can think of many possible titles – The Secret Seven vs The Famous Five (though this is rather misleading as it’s not the actual Famous Five, and could be mistaken for one of the other stories with this plot!), A False Trail for the Secret Seven, Secret Seven On the Track (as at least track links to the railway tracks in the story!).

⭐

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Go Ahead Secret Seven

Go Ahead and DO WHAT?

This one is about how some practice shadowing sessions lead the Secret Seven into a mystery about missing dogs.

Missing dogs… now why couldn’t that have been in the title?

Secret Seven and the Missing Dogs. Secret Seven Sniff Out Lost Canines. Wagging Tails for the Secret Seven. Secret Seven and the Dognappers. Secret Seven Hunt for Missing Mutts.

⭐

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Good Work Secret Seven

Pretty much the same title as Well Done Secret Seven. Perhaps we could have had fifteen of these?

Well Done Secret Seven
Good Work Secret Seven
Congratulations Secret Seven
Aren’t You Clever Secret Seven
Felicitations Secret Seven
All Hail the Secret Seven
Three Cheers for the Secret Seven (Yes, I forgot that this was already a title!)
Compliments to the Secret Seven
Excellent Mystery Solving Secret Seven
Bally Good Show Secret Seven
Rah Rah Secret Seven
A Round of Applause for the Secret Seven
Hooray Secret Seven
The Secret Seven are Jolly Good Fellows
Splendid Job Secret Seven

This is another Secret Seven vs Susie story, where Peter and Janet get accidentally kidnapped and they have to solve the mystery of who stole the car with them in it.

Better titles could have been Secret Seven Kidnap, Secret Seven and the Car Thieves, Motor Mystery for the Secret Seven.

⭐

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Secret Seven Win Through

This says nothing about the book. As with the above title you could easily have fifteen titles along the lines of Secret Seven Do Well, Secret Seven are Successful…

Rather than a tree house this time the Seven have decamped to a cave in a quarry, but like in the tree house book (have literally had to scroll back up to check which title it was – Well Done.) someone else is secretly using their meeting place and they have to figure out who it is.

The location could have been included in the title. Secret Seven and the Cave, Secret Seven in the Quarry, Secret Seven and the Mystery Cave Dweller.

⭐

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Three Cheers Secret Seven

Another congratulatory title, see above!

At the risk of making them all sound with Friends episodes this is the one with the toy aeroplane. The aeroplane is accidentally flown onto a balcony of an empty house, and much like in the first book (and indeed The Mystery of the Secret Room) something funny is going on as the house isn’t as empty as it should be.

Possible titles could have been Secret Seven and the Empty House (but that could apply to book #1 too), or Secret Seven and the Flyaway Aeroplane.

⭐

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Secret Seven Mystery

They are literally ALL mysteries…

Secret Seven Mystery
Secret Seven Solve a Mystery
A Mystery for the Secret Seven
Secret Seven Have a Mystery to Solve
Mysterious Goings on For the Secret Seven
Secret Seven Find a Mystery
The Secret Seven Stumble Into Another Mystery
The Mystery of Why The Secret Seven Titles Are All So Vague
Ok I ran out of ideas quite quickly there.

Anyway, this is the mystery of a local school girl who looks like she’s run away.

I can see why the Secret Seven appears in each title in the same way as Five or Adventure or Mystery Of appears in other series titles, to make it clear what series it belongs to. Still, it’s quite limiting as it’s rather long already. But other possible titles her could have been Secret Seven and the Missing Girl or Secret Seven and the Hunt for Elizabeth.7

⭐

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Puzzle for the Secret Seven

Well, that’s just another way of saying Mystery for the Secret Seven, isn’t it? And as we have already established, they are all mysteries!

This one isn’t about jigsaws – as much as I love them, the Secret Seven doing a jigsaw would make for a dull book. Rather it is about how the Seven help an old Gypsy lady, who then comes to stay on Peter and Janet’s farm, and the mystery of who stole the scarecrow’s clothes and an antique violin.

Perhaps also too vague but Secret Seven Do a Good Deed, or Secret Seven and the Scarecrow’s Stolen Clothes.

⭐

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Secret Seven Fireworks

Finally – a title that hints to the contents of the book! Unsurprisingly this one is set in November and sees them making a guy for the bonfire. Meanwhile Colin’s grandmother is burgled and they must find the culprit.

This is by far the best title – though when I read it I always want it to refer to a (figuratively) explosive situation for the Seven.

There’s also the issue of Good Work Secret Seven being rather a lot about fireworks. I checked – fireworks are mentioned 40 times in Secret Seven Fireworks, and 35 times in Good Work Secret Seven. So Secret Seven Fireworks is about 14% more firework-y and I suppose deserves to get the title.

It could have been called Secret Seven Bonfire, Remember Remember the Secret Seven or Secret Seven and the Guy.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Good Old Secret Seven

Yawn. See my list of congratulatory titles somewhere above!

This one’s very reminiscent of Five Have a Wonderful Time (an equally unhelpful title, I know – that’s the one at Faynights Castle with the kidnapped scientist with big eyebrows), with the Seven sharing a telescope with Susie and spotting a man’s head at the window of a castle tower.

This one was quite hard actually! Secret Seven and the Telescope sounds like they took up astronomy. Secret Seven Spy a Mysterious Head in a Castle Window is descriptive, but dreadful. Secret Seven Go to Torling Castle?

⭐

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Shock for the Secret Seven

Not exactly descriptive, but a nice change from Congratulations, Mystery and Adventure.

Ruining my ideas for Go Ahead Secret Seven, this one’s about dognappers too. But it’s also about Jack leaving the Seven (making them the Six) and threatening to form a new Secret Seven with Susie and some of her friends.

Alternative titles: The Secret Seven become The Secret Six, Secret Seven Lose a Member, Secret Seven and More Missing Dogs.

 

⭐⭐

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Look Out Secret Seven

Another slightly less vague title, but what are they looking out for? As they solve a mystery in every book they must always have to Look Out for the bad guys and/or Susie!

This one’s a double mystery – someone’s stolen a retired general’s medals, and someone’s stealing eggs from nests in the woods.

Two mysteries make this a more difficult one to title – though the eggs are probably a secondary plot. A Double Mystery for the Secret Seven or Secret Seven and the Medal Thief/Thieves?

Two stars is probably too generous but it’s at least better than many of the one star ones!

⭐⭐

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Fun For the Secret Seven

Are we supposed to believe that the Secret Seven have not enjoyed their previous fourteen adventures, but instead, have reluctantly dragged their feet through all those mysteries? No? Then they were having fun all along? Thought so.

This starts out with the Seven trying to help someone and ends in a case of horse thieves (much like the first book!).

Though it could be confused with the first book, the horsey element is probably the strongest theme for the title. Secret Seven and the Horse Thieves, or if you’re into alliteration (and who isn’t!) Secret Seven and the Elusive Equines.

⭐

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Obviously these “terrible” titles had no impact on the popularity of the series or the level of sales. They could have been called Secret Seven 1, Secret Seven 2, and still sold out. In fact they barely need a title – just the Enid Blyton name would have been enough!

I just wish they’d used something a bit more descriptive and interesting – and better than my suggestions!