Tell Me a Secret

July 12, 2010
Set in Seattle, Cupala's first novel is a cinematic and realistic story concerning high school senior Miranda "Rand" Mathison. It has been five years since the death of her wild older sister, Xanda, and while Rand attempts to set her sights on the future (art school in Boston, her boyfriend) the past keeps pulling her back. "I was left to wonder, what role did Xanda fill that I could not? What secret did she keep? And what path could I take to find it?" When Rand becomes pregnant, her dramatic, controlling mother forces her to choose between considering adoption and starting a work-study program at a bank (which would mean giving up a career in art). Her friends and boyfriend desert her, yet Rand is strong, stubborn, and determined to keep the baby as a way of reconnecting to her sister's spirit. Readers follow Rand's daily struggles through taut, first-person narration, as Cupala skillfully weaves Rand's memories with present action. The sheer number of problematic pregnancies, fraught friendships, and family troubles can make the story feel melodramatic, but Rand is a consistently empathetic heroine. Ages 14–up.

June 15, 2010

For five years, Rand has been trying to separate herself from her sister's death and to make sense of it. Her family life, her school life and her interior life have all been largely defined by what isn't there: her sister, Xanda. Desperate to reinvent herself, Rand distances herself from her controlling mother, her passive best friend and her emotionally detached father. Unfortunately, what she gains—a manipulative friend, a disloyal boyfriend and a positive pregnancy test that sits at the bottom of her book bag—does not outweigh what she lost. Cupala's strengths include the ability to write compelling dialogue and paint vivid scenes. Alas, these are muddied by a less-than-fresh story; readers will quickly tire of being one step ahead of Rand. Stock characters with predictable quirks further empty the story of its power. An overfamiliar premise and stale particulars combine to create a flat story that never hits its stride. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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July 1, 2010
Gr 9 Up—-s school begins, 17-year-old Rand knows that she is pregnant. She wants to tell her boyfriend, but after being away at camp all summer she doesn't feel as close to Kamran as she once did. Making matters worse, she is increasingly certain that he is dating her best friend behind her back. Because of this, Rand is all but cut off from her social group, and her controlling mother and emotionally absent father, still reeling from the death of their other daughter five years earlier, don't offer any emotional support either. When she decides to keep her baby, her parents force her to give up her dreams of art school to get a job. Just when everything seems like it couldn't possibly get any worse, Rand faces the dangerously early birth of her baby. In the end, she discovers not only who her true friends are, but also the truth about her sister's death. Along with a rekindled relationship with her parents, these facets of the story contribute to a somewhat resolved ending, though not much positive happens during this bleak novel. Even if other characters are not outright mean to her, almost no one treats Rand with any kindness. Some may appreciate Cupala's gritty realism, but others will find this overwrought book a real downer.—"Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2010
Grades 9-12 Haunted by the death of her older sister, Xanda, in a car crash five years earlier, Seattle high-school senior Miranda barely relates to her cold parents, quarrels with her girlfriends, and has sex with gorgeous Kamran, who dumps her. Then she discovers that she is pregnant. She finds support online with other expectant mothers, even though she isnt truthful about her own scenario. And she loves her baby girl, Lexi, even in the womb, and that gives her hope after a long, painful labor and very premature birth. This lengthy, repetitive first novel draws out the family secrets. How exactly did Xanda die? Was her boyfriend drunk, or was it Xandas fault? Mirandas mother is demonized, but teens will be held by the fresh take on the teen-pregnancy plot, and Mirandas first-person contemporary narrative elevates this title above problem-novel clich's. Heartbreaking and hopeful, the details of Mirandas bonding with Lexi and her discovery of kindness and family are the core of the story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)