Dark Secrets

March 15, 2011
Grades 7-12 In this stand-alone follow-up to The Stranger, (2010), Ernesto Sandoval, 16, has a crush on his beautiful classmate, Naomi Martinez, but she is devoted to her boyfriend, Clay Aguirre, even though he bullies and beats her. Naomis dad is a bully, too, who abuses his vicious pit bull. This slim novel in the Urban Underground series will grab readers with its nonstop action, set in a contemporary Southern California barrio. The surprise-filled story does get preachy at times, but the underlying message is that there are no happy-ever-after solutions to problems. In her troubled relationship, Naomi is as helpless as a drug addict. Ernesto is there for her, but can she let go of her romance with her abusive boyfriend? The novel includes a realistic depiction of the cultural complexities of life in the barrio; Ernestos grandparents, for example, reject their Mexican roots, unlike his parents. And there is a mystery, too: who was the hit-and-run driver who left Naomis cheerleader friend, Tessie, badly injured? The tense action will keep readers hooked.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)