What do you think?
Rate this book
Het geheim van de grot
William heeft helemaal geen zin in die vakantie met zijn ouders in Wales. En ook niet in die Gwyn, die borenpummel die toevallig in de buurt woont. Toch gaat Wiliam met Gwyn op stap. Want hij is wel nieuwsgierig naar diens 'geheime bezit', waar hij verder met niemand over mag praten.
Maar als William eeenmaal weet wat het geheim van Gwyn is, heeft hij het moeilijk met zijn zwijgplicht. Want wat die Gwyn allemaal van plan is, deugt van geen kanten...
Maar als William eeenmaal weet wat het geheim van Gwyn is, heeft hij het moeilijk met zijn zwijgplicht. Want wat die Gwyn allemaal van plan is, deugt van geen kanten...
94 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 1993
15 people want to read
About the author
Aidan Chambers
103 books302 followersAidan Chambers was a British author of children's and young-adult novels. He won both the British Carnegie Medal and the American Printz Award for Postcards from No Man's Land (1999). For his "lasting contribution to children's literature" he won the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2002.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 27, 2022
Mainly interesting as a study of boyhoods/masculinities in the late 20th centuries (not that one book can give you the whole picture). I found it interesting that William was quite brave but was portrayed as somewhat of a sissy (or at least seen that way by his parents and a more macho kid he runs into). He cares about animals and art and he cries all of which made him relatable I thought but his parents being quite rejecting and abusive towards him is portrayed as not really a problem and his one act of bravery portrayed as futile (plenty more seals in the sea).
The chapters were mercifully short.
The chapters were mercifully short.
September 22, 2019
Een hedendaags thema: liefde voor dieren. Maar gebracht op een nogal voorbijgestreefde en eenzijdige manier. Het grootste deel van het verhaal gaat over de frustratie van een tiener over het feit dat zijn ouder (in hun vakantiekeuze) met hem totaal geen rekening houden. Een opvallend en in mijn ogen idioot gegeven is dat de moeder een hoogtezon meeneemt om binnen te kunnen bruinen, en dat midden in de zomer!
De auteur kiest in het conflict over de zeehond duidelijk partij voor het "redden" ervan zonder ook maar naar de gevolgen te kijken. Aan het feit dat de held zich in levensgevaar begeeft wordt voorbijgegaan, alsof dat de normaalste zaak van de wereld is. Aan het andere standpunt - dieren voor de slacht kweken - wordt geen aandacht besteed, het wordt meteen als negatief afgedaan. Volledig in lijn met de huidige veganistische en klimaathysterische tendens van vandaag.
Hoewel het verhaal een beetje langdradig is, verandert dat toch bij de actie van de redding, die meteen ook het hoogtepunt maar nog niet echt het einde van verhaal vormt. Dan wordt het wel even heel spannend.
Lezenswaardig, best nog wel aktueel, nogal eenzijdig, niet echt duidelijk wat nu de bedoeling van de schrijver was.
De auteur kiest in het conflict over de zeehond duidelijk partij voor het "redden" ervan zonder ook maar naar de gevolgen te kijken. Aan het feit dat de held zich in levensgevaar begeeft wordt voorbijgegaan, alsof dat de normaalste zaak van de wereld is. Aan het andere standpunt - dieren voor de slacht kweken - wordt geen aandacht besteed, het wordt meteen als negatief afgedaan. Volledig in lijn met de huidige veganistische en klimaathysterische tendens van vandaag.
Hoewel het verhaal een beetje langdradig is, verandert dat toch bij de actie van de redding, die meteen ook het hoogtepunt maar nog niet echt het einde van verhaal vormt. Dan wordt het wel even heel spannend.
Lezenswaardig, best nog wel aktueel, nogal eenzijdig, niet echt duidelijk wat nu de bedoeling van de schrijver was.
November 23, 2018
A simple enough story aged towards 10-12 year olds.
A boy braves his fears and disappointments to rescue a seal pup. He’s actually quite brave and overcomes the rather bullying local boy, but due to the all importance of keeping childhood pacts, no one actually knows quite how brave he’s been.
Dislike books about bullying types and feel William should have told the full truth about Gwyn. Only give it 2 stars because the portrayal of William overcoming his fears was good. Would have given it more if Gwyn had got his comeuppance or there had been a more satisfactory ending.
It was readable....once. I won’t read it again.
A boy braves his fears and disappointments to rescue a seal pup. He’s actually quite brave and overcomes the rather bullying local boy, but due to the all importance of keeping childhood pacts, no one actually knows quite how brave he’s been.
Dislike books about bullying types and feel William should have told the full truth about Gwyn. Only give it 2 stars because the portrayal of William overcoming his fears was good. Would have given it more if Gwyn had got his comeuppance or there had been a more satisfactory ending.
It was readable....once. I won’t read it again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2020
Having read the Dutch translation, I must say this novel was both poorly translated as well as a poor children’s book. The protagonist is treated terribly by his parents, who appear to feel the need for derogatory comments about their son in the presence of others and seem to have no interest in his emotional well-being. None of the other characters seem to have empathy and Gwynn is just another bully, yet none of this gets addressed. Instead the protagonist goes on a dangerous endeavour without thinking it through and somehow events turn the way they do. Nonsensical, and although wanting to do right by a seal is all fine and well, everything else is bleh.
September 7, 2012
For a few semesters, I’ve heard rumors of a fiction section at OU’s library. After I finished my final exam for my summer class, and had a couple of hours to kill, I went straight to the library. I found the “fiction” section (i.e. the young adult section), and stumbled upon a book by my favorite author that I had never seen before. As a big fan of Aidan Chambers, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t read it. So I picked up his children’s novel—Seal Secret—and took it home with me.
William, a young English boy, goes on holiday with his family in Wales. He expects a rather boring trip—he’ll probably be cramped inside some cottage with his mum and dad. But adventure awaits him, although he doesn’t know it. It all starts when Will meets another boy called Gwyn. The two boys, who taunt each other to no end, take a day trip to the sea, where Gwyn reveals his secret to Will. And this secret will unite the boys forever—or until Will goes home.
Chambers is an Englishman who has written seven young adult novels—all of which I own—two children’s novels, four plays, and more. His most recent work, Dying to Know You, was published on the first of April in 2012. It received the Michael L. Printz Award.
Basically, he’s a big deal. (And you should read his stuff.)
If you can guess from the title of this book, as well as its cover art, this story involves animals. Although I can’t reveal too much about the animal in the story, I will say that the conflict created around this story—and the two main characters—is incredibly strong. And what kid isn’t interested in animals, in some way or another? Chambers is smart to draw in the reader’s attention by offering two sides to the story. The reader can choose which side he or she most relates to—Gwyn or Will—although it’s clear who the bias is toward, since the narrative’s point of view focuses on Will. In addition to a strong conflict, Chambers beautifully crafts strong description using the five senses. It’s not like I’ve read a ton of children’s books lately, but I’ve never seen description quite like this in a children’s novel. It’s breathtaking. Chambers’ description truly places the reader in the life of the character, which is key in a children’s book.
He also creates authentic voices for each character—especially Will, who clearly feels misunderstood by his parents. At first, I thought Will’s parents were unrealistically hateful toward him. But—maybe it’s because I’m familiar with Chambers’ writing style, or because I spent every year in high school analyzing literature—I realized Will’s parents were presented that way because that’s how Will saw them at that point in his life. I mean, think back to when you were 10 (my rough estimate of Will’s age)—did you feel like your parents didn’t understand you, that they weren’t allowing you to freely live your life? I know I did. Heck, I wasn’t allowed to watch Rugrats, and I thought that that was the end of the world. Chambers’ presentation of Will’s parents gives Will an authentic voice, and I really admire Chambers for exploring that aspect of Will’s world.
As I mentioned before, this novel focuses on an animal. Accompanying the animal, and Will’s bias toward the animal, is the theme that using animals for entertainment and/or money is wrong. I thought Chambers was clever to incorporate this theme into the novel since I completely agree with this theme. I couldn’t enjoy myself for a few hours in Hawaii—Hawaii—because my family dragged me to an animal park and all I could think was, “This is so wrong. These animals that should be in the wild are being used so an audience can feel good for thirty minutes and the trainers can get their paycheck—all at the animal’s expense.” It just wasn’t fair. And that’s the kind of theme I believe Chambers was promoting through this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the story since I agree.
I noticed something else that Chambers did cleverly, although this could just be my opinion and he didn’t actually plan this. But in another book by Chambers—This Is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn—there’s a major character by the name of Will. And I had a realization that the boy in Seal Secret could very well be the child version of Will in This Is All. Now let me tell you why I think this. 1) Chambers has done this before. In This Is All, a character called Julie was featured as a teenager in another one of his novels, Now I Know. 2) At the beginning of Seal Secret, Will was climbing a tree. And although he wasn’t very good at it at the time, this became Will’s life passion in This Is All. And there wasn’t exactly a reason related to the plot for Will to climb the tree in Seal Secret, so that makes me think that Chambers had planned to use Will in a later book and he knew Will was going to grow up to have a passion for trees. But who knows? It’s just a theory/thought I had.
I thought perhaps Chambers could have gotten to the main conflict of the story sooner. The exposition felt a little too drawn out for a children’s book. I was also a little concerned about some violence in the book. It wasn’t anything horrific, nor was it described in graphic details, but I thought it was a little too much for a child to read about. It didn’t personally bother me because the violence was justified literarily, but I would be concerned about it if a child were reading it.
I would recommend Seal Secret to anyone who loves Aidan Chambers, to children who have an interest in animals, or to other children’s book writers.
William, a young English boy, goes on holiday with his family in Wales. He expects a rather boring trip—he’ll probably be cramped inside some cottage with his mum and dad. But adventure awaits him, although he doesn’t know it. It all starts when Will meets another boy called Gwyn. The two boys, who taunt each other to no end, take a day trip to the sea, where Gwyn reveals his secret to Will. And this secret will unite the boys forever—or until Will goes home.
Chambers is an Englishman who has written seven young adult novels—all of which I own—two children’s novels, four plays, and more. His most recent work, Dying to Know You, was published on the first of April in 2012. It received the Michael L. Printz Award.
Basically, he’s a big deal. (And you should read his stuff.)
If you can guess from the title of this book, as well as its cover art, this story involves animals. Although I can’t reveal too much about the animal in the story, I will say that the conflict created around this story—and the two main characters—is incredibly strong. And what kid isn’t interested in animals, in some way or another? Chambers is smart to draw in the reader’s attention by offering two sides to the story. The reader can choose which side he or she most relates to—Gwyn or Will—although it’s clear who the bias is toward, since the narrative’s point of view focuses on Will. In addition to a strong conflict, Chambers beautifully crafts strong description using the five senses. It’s not like I’ve read a ton of children’s books lately, but I’ve never seen description quite like this in a children’s novel. It’s breathtaking. Chambers’ description truly places the reader in the life of the character, which is key in a children’s book.
He also creates authentic voices for each character—especially Will, who clearly feels misunderstood by his parents. At first, I thought Will’s parents were unrealistically hateful toward him. But—maybe it’s because I’m familiar with Chambers’ writing style, or because I spent every year in high school analyzing literature—I realized Will’s parents were presented that way because that’s how Will saw them at that point in his life. I mean, think back to when you were 10 (my rough estimate of Will’s age)—did you feel like your parents didn’t understand you, that they weren’t allowing you to freely live your life? I know I did. Heck, I wasn’t allowed to watch Rugrats, and I thought that that was the end of the world. Chambers’ presentation of Will’s parents gives Will an authentic voice, and I really admire Chambers for exploring that aspect of Will’s world.
As I mentioned before, this novel focuses on an animal. Accompanying the animal, and Will’s bias toward the animal, is the theme that using animals for entertainment and/or money is wrong. I thought Chambers was clever to incorporate this theme into the novel since I completely agree with this theme. I couldn’t enjoy myself for a few hours in Hawaii—Hawaii—because my family dragged me to an animal park and all I could think was, “This is so wrong. These animals that should be in the wild are being used so an audience can feel good for thirty minutes and the trainers can get their paycheck—all at the animal’s expense.” It just wasn’t fair. And that’s the kind of theme I believe Chambers was promoting through this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the story since I agree.
I noticed something else that Chambers did cleverly, although this could just be my opinion and he didn’t actually plan this. But in another book by Chambers—This Is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn—there’s a major character by the name of Will. And I had a realization that the boy in Seal Secret could very well be the child version of Will in This Is All. Now let me tell you why I think this. 1) Chambers has done this before. In This Is All, a character called Julie was featured as a teenager in another one of his novels, Now I Know. 2) At the beginning of Seal Secret, Will was climbing a tree. And although he wasn’t very good at it at the time, this became Will’s life passion in This Is All. And there wasn’t exactly a reason related to the plot for Will to climb the tree in Seal Secret, so that makes me think that Chambers had planned to use Will in a later book and he knew Will was going to grow up to have a passion for trees. But who knows? It’s just a theory/thought I had.
I thought perhaps Chambers could have gotten to the main conflict of the story sooner. The exposition felt a little too drawn out for a children’s book. I was also a little concerned about some violence in the book. It wasn’t anything horrific, nor was it described in graphic details, but I thought it was a little too much for a child to read about. It didn’t personally bother me because the violence was justified literarily, but I would be concerned about it if a child were reading it.
I would recommend Seal Secret to anyone who loves Aidan Chambers, to children who have an interest in animals, or to other children’s book writers.
June 28, 2020
Spannend verhaal voor kinderen in het primair onderwijs.
October 18, 2019
This is a children's story about a boy, William, who reluctantly goes on holiday to stay in a cottage in Wales. His parents don't seem to have much sympathy for the fact that this was not his favoured destination, and they push him towards playing with a local boy, Gwyn, who is something of a bully. However Gwyn has a secret (not giving spoilers away if I mention it is a "seal secret"!) and William must make some hard decisions.
August 20, 2022
A short realist novel about a young boy who is taken on holiday with his parents to Wales. There he is thrust into the company of Gwyn, a farmer's son who is keeping a seal pup trapped in a cave in the hopes of beginning a trend in farming in seals. William, a quiet artist, risks his life against the power of the sea to free the seal.
December 28, 2012
When i was 8, this was one of the first (big) books i ever read.
i loved it and read it at least twice a year for the next decade.
i loved it and read it at least twice a year for the next decade.
January 22, 2022
stellt nicht die Systemfrage
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews