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Reviewed by: Becky Hibbert, Elementary School Librarian Title: Secrets Never Die Author: Vincent Ralph Publisher: Wednesday Books
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: 7-12 Genre/Type of Book: Mystery
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: n/a Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: A YA murder mystery involving hidden secrets among friends and the threat of those secrets being released? I'm there! If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: They thought they were the only one with secrets worth revealing, but they're about to find out they're wrong...
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Review:
Sam Hall, a former childhood star, had both his fame and his life go up in flames a few short years ago, but no one knows the true story. His girlfriend and other two best friends (brother and sister) also have secrets that haunt them. To ease the burden, the friends meet every Halloween to hold "funerals" for their secrets; each teen goes into an abandoned old shed, confesses their respective secrets, and move on. This Halloween, it turns out that someone has been listening... Sam and his friends have to embark on a race against time to figure out who their blackmailer - or is it blackmailers? - is, and things get messier when even close friends turn on each other.
If you're a fan of quality YA mysteries, then I would definitely recommend this to both adults and kids for summer reading. This also has strong thematic elements dealing with family, friendship, loyalty, and betrayal. It would also be a good book to add to your collection; with a male teen narrator, which I've found to be not common, I think it would appeal to teen boys, who can be a tricky demographic to hit. Although it's a YA book, I thought the plot was really interesting; there were a few times when I thought I had it figured out, but I was wrong and it kept me guessing most of the way. Ralph also does a great job creating teenage *and* adult characters that are fully fleshed out. This is definitely a quick and enjoyable read.
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For more information about this book, see the Publishers Website