I Know Your Secret (A Secrets & Lies Novel)
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4.1 • 17 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
"A compulsive middle grade thriller." -- Book Riot
The email arrives Sunday night: Do exactly what I say, when I say it, or I will reveal your secret.
On Monday morning, seventh graders Owen, Gemma, Ally, and Todd, who have nothing in common and barely know each other, must work together and follow the instructions of an anonymous blackmailer. None of them want to go along with the blackmailer's strange instructions, but each of them have a secret they must protect at all costs.
Set during a single day of school, the students race against the clock to complete a unsettling list of tasks. They'll do whatever it takes to keep their secrets hidden . . . but when they discover what the blackmailer has in mind, they realize things may have just gone too far. Can they put a stop to the plan, or is it too late?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It's Explorer's Day at Upstate New York's Snow Valley Secondary, where most of the Gold Star Award–receiving middle school's students are thrilled to experience electives that aren't normally part of the curriculum. But the day's promise of gleeful chaos takes a far more sinister turn for four students—goofball Owen, popular Gemma, tough-guy Todd (all of whom read as white), and quiet Ally (adopted from Kazakhstan)—when each receives a threatening anonymous message. If they don't together perform a series of seemingly unrelated tasks around the school, they're told, their darkest secrets will be exposed. PW contribuBenedis-Grab (The Chocolate Challenge) keeps the tension high from the start of this taut whodunit, alternating third-person perspectives among the four tweens and a group transcript. As they reluctantly follow the blackmailer's orders, strong character development reveals their shared compassion and understanding. Though the climax's sympathies feel slightly muddled, this enjoyable, pared-down thriller admirably tackles bullying, environments in which it is allowed to propagate, and the importance of speaking truth to power. Ages 8–12.
