Stolen Secrets

August 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Uprooted from calm Vermont to the bustle of San Francisco by her recovering alcoholic mother, Olivia (Livvy) quickly discovers the move was not just for a better job. Instead, mom Gretchen will be caring for Adelle, her mother who has Alzheimer's-the mother she claimed had died years ago. Not only does Livvy discover her grandmother is alive, but her garbled conversations and memories reveal that she lived through the Holocaust and spent time at a concentration camp. Unprepared for the demands of caregiving, Gretchen falls off the wagon and enters rehab in Vermont. Livvy tagteams with sneaky neighbor Vickie to take care of Adelle. Determined not to make friends, she ducks the persistent Franklin D. Shiller until he becomes an ally in uncovering her grandmother's secret past. When they find hidden documents related to Anne Frank that someone wants to get their hands on, Livvy must protect her grandmother and brace herself for some shocking revelations. The author captures the desperate uncertainty of life with an alcoholic and having to parent a parent. Whip-smart Franklin has a uniquely drawn personality and his dialogue with Livvy sparkles. Alcoholism aside, Gretchen appears mean-spirited and callous, making the ending slightly less plausible. VERDICT An engaging coming-of-age novel recommended for libraries looking to highlight issues of alcoholism, Alzheimer's, and family estrangement.-Lee De Groft, Jamestown High School, Williamsburg, VA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 15, 2017
A crowded contemporary story with a Holocaust secret at its core.On the eve of 11th grade, blonde, white, blue-eyed Livvy is dragged across the country by her alcoholic (five years sober) mother for unclear reasons. Livvy is determined to get them back to Vermont until she learns the real reason for the move: her grandmother, who her mother had told her was dead, is still alive. She's suffering from Alzheimer's, and Livvy's mother is prepared to be her caregiver for fear of being written out of the will. What follows is a jam-packed narrative with a full complement of tropes and topical elements: new girl; friend issues (the back-home friends are classic mean girls); alcoholism; family secrets (involving the Holocaust); neo-Nazis; predatory elder care; armed robbery--and a romance. It's a lot for just about 300 pages, and the suspension of disbelief required is damaged by the overly explicit first-person narration. That Livvy has a photographic memory that fuels her habit of spewing facts doesn't make the exposition less stiff. The grandmother's mysterious past (is she Anne Frank? A Nazi?) intrigues, and the questions--is it possible to forgive her? To love her?--could have made a complex novel in their own right; here, they are settled in five pages. An intriguing premise (or three) drowning under its own weight. (Fiction. 12-16)

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