Tell Me a Secret
Holly Cupala



rating: 9 out of 10 "books"

“It’s tough, living in the shadow of a dead girl. No one mentions my sister. If they do, it’s mentioning her by omission, relief that I am nothing like her. I am the good sister. Thank God.” – Tell Me a Secret pg. 1

It’s been five years since Miranda Mathison’s bad girl sister, Xanda, died, but the mystery surrounding her death and the secret Xanda took to her grave still haunts Miranda. Now seventeen, the age Xanda was when she died, Miranda, or Rand, is dealing with some issues of her own. Her perfect life: an awesome boyfriend, perfect best friend, and promising future at art school after graduation, are all shaken up when two little pink lines on a pregnancy test threaten to destroy everything Rand has worked so hard for. To top it all off, the shaky relationship she’s had with her mother all her life, especially after the death of her “failure” of a sister, feels like it’s been permanently derailed after the news of her pregnancy leaks.

But the truth is, Rand has always wanted to be like Xanda. Maybe that’s why she surrounds herself with bad girl Delaney, and had isolated herself from her once best friend, Essence. So while all these bad things keep happening to her, Rand can’t help but obsess over the vagueness of Xanda’s death, and the secret truth that her parents might be keeping from her surrounding the way her sister died. The only problem is that it seems everyone has turned against Rand, her best friend and boyfriend included. With no one to talk to, not even her parents, Rand is completely on her own in terms of her pregnancy.

Talk about capturing the essence of high school! True, I’ve been out of high school for quite awhile now, but it felt like I was sucked right back into the drama of it all whilst reading this book. I for one, know how hard high school can be; how mean, manipulative, clique-y, and backstabbing (even your good friends!) can be. Cupala was able to capture all of the emotional angst and hardships that many teens face while pursuing secondary education, even more so, when you’re a soon-to-be teenage mother. I would never wish what happened to Rand in this story on anyone. And if you thought your mother was bad, wait until you get a load of Rand’s mom. In a somewhat related note, I also thought Holly Cupala did a really awesome job of representing (no offense my teenage friends!), the kind of ignorance young people have at that age, whereas, instead of going and finding out the facts for sure yourself, making a judgment call and abandoning your friend(s), boyfriend, or girlfriend based on what someone else told you. There was so many times when I wanted to yell at certain characters in the book because things were so obvious to me as an adult reader, and so easy to fix, but understandably confusing to a teen.

The only downside, that I was able to think of when it came to this story, was Xanda’s “secret.” Either the author was really unclear about what it actually was, or I just assumed one part of the story was the secret, but I was a little let down by Rand’s discovery as it related to Xanda. However, when all is said and done, I thought this was a really great book. It wasn’t just one of those “oh hey, another teenage pregnancy” kind of stories. I’ve read a lot of YA books in my time, and this was one of the few that really did YA right: no crazy/complicated love triangles, too mature for their age characters, or Gossip Girl-esque storylines. Holly Cupala definitely knows her stuff and I’m positive that if I had read this book in high school, I would have related to it even more than I just did a handful of years later. Go out and read this book!

October Sky (Aka Rocket Boys: A Memoir)
Homer Hickam



rating: 9 out of 10 "books"

I know of quite a few people who hate when books are turned into movies. Common complaints include the degredation of the story from book to screen (you can't squeeze a whole book into a 90 minute movie!), departure of characters (appearance, or total deletion of), and yada, yada, yada, but honestly, I like book to movie adaptations because I think it's a great way to discover new books (or more specifically authors), that you may not have known existed before. What better way for kids to get into reading than for them to find out their favorite movie was adapted from a book? Especially when that movie is based on a real story?

I had never even heard of Homer Hickam until I saw the movie. "October Sky" is the story of a boy growing up in a small coal town and dreaming bigger than the life set out before him. During the on-set of the Space Race, Homer becomes facinated with the idea of outer space and the (at the time) seemingly science fiction-like possibility of putting a man in space. Despite his poor grades and lack of socio-economic opportunities growing up in West Virginia, Homer studies hard and learns beyond his school classes to persue his dream. He and his friends, the Rocket Boys, face challenges left and right; from their peers bullying them, to the company town threatening to shut down their rocket activities, to the school principal himself calling their rockets "bombs." Probably one of the biggest issues in this story, however, is the relationship Homer has with his father. It's heartbreaking at times to read how hard Mr. Hickam is on his son, and the disappointment Homer brings his dad when he dreams outside of Coalwood instead of following in his footsteps and becoming a coal miner.

I really enjoyed this book. Again having seen the movie before reading the book and then going back and seeing how things may have been added or deleted from book to movie might have put me off a little, but nothing too serious. Yes, some characters were different (some altogether excluded!) and some versions of how things "went down" may have been altered a bit, but all the same, it was an enjoyable read. I myself can understand the need to get out of a life you don't want, or a place that you don't want to be stuck in. That is why I give this story a rating of 9 "books."