I Know Your Secret by Daphne Benedis-Grab
Four seventh graders receive an email threatening to expose their secrets. These four; Owen, Gemma, Ally, and Todd have nothing in common with each other, but they need to work together to do as the email asks. This is very similar to I Know You’re Lying by the same author. She really likes the idea of getting kids to work together in unique ways. I love it!
After they get the email, they have to text a random number. From that point forward, they receive instructions via text messages. They are sneaking around the school doing odd tasks like putting a garbage bag full of clothes into a random locker.
My biggest complaint about this author’s last book was that the students were able to move around the school without anyone noticing. In this book, they are having an “Explorer’s Day”, a day when they get to sign up and try out different things like board games or cake baking. They each told the teacher that they originally signed up for one class but switched to another. Sounds questionable, but from someone who works in a school, those crazy days make it easy for kids to wander off to different rooms. Usually, someone is texting to find them, but I could see the teachers just assuming they are in someone’s class. They would eventually be found, but I could see it taking a minute.
Ally: lives with her grandparents and works at their animal sanctuary. That sounds lovely. The first day we meet her she wakes up and snuggles all the dogs before breakfast to calm herself down. I know the sanctuary must be a lot of work but how nice to be able to snuggle animals when you need it most. She doesn’t have time for friends.
Todd: Lives with his mom. She has some issues, so it’s up to Todd to take care of everything. He cleans, makes sure the bills are paid, and makes sure his mom has everything she needs if she is having a bad day. He doesn’t have any friends at school because he has some anger issues.
Gemma: She is a popular girl and a star basketball player. She has a good number of friends, but she recently decided to quit basketball to focus on the drama club. This is weird because she is so good at basketball.
Owen: He is a little quirky. He speaks without thinking and might be a little clumsy at times. He has friends, but they might not be the best kind. One of his friends is considered a bully by the others.
As these four run around the school, they eventually share their secrets with each other. Some are pretty serious. I felt like not all the questions were answered in the end with this book. There was a plan, but we don’t hear much more than that. I sort of wish there was an epilogue.
Three out of Five Magical Coffee Cups
Literary Coffee 