Forgotten Secrets

by Beverley Boissery

Most people think Grade 9 is an easy grade. For Jenn North it's anything but as she faces radical changes. Her parents are thinking of divorce. They and Jenn's brothers move to Eastern Canada while she is left in Vancouver at boarding school. When she's given an assignment that asks her to find out what one relative did in World War II, her research shakes her foundations as much as the split in her family has. Her great-great-grandfather was decorated many times for his service to Canada. Jenn discovers though that he was a racist and bigot who made sure that Jewish refugees weren't allowed into the country. For Jo Carruthers and Jaslyn Green the assignment is both heart-breaking and vindicating. Jo discovers that her great-grandfather was part of a Hitler Youth massacre of a Royal Winnipeg Rifles squad that has been forgotten. Jas finds out that her Jewish ancestors' escape from Nazi Austria borders on the miraculous and fans of the movie Woman in Gold will discover a different thread to that story.Rather than build to a traditional climax, Forgotten Secrets forces us to ask questions. Are the ways we look at refugees different from Jenn's great-great grandfather? Should she feel guilty because his Anti-Semitic policies meant thousands died when they might have been safe in Canada? When values change so much from generation to generation, what do we build on?

187 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 6, 2018

About the author

A native Australian, Dr. Beverley Boissery knows the writing world from many angles – editor, teacher, publisher, scholar and author. Mostly, though, she is a writer of 11 books ranging from academic history to young adult fiction. In 2006 she was awarded the Surrey International Writers Conference Chamber of Commerce Award for Special Achievement.

Her young adult Sophie series published by the Dundurn Group's Boardwalk imprint is based on the 1838 Lower Canadian rebellion and marries her love of fiction with history. Sophie's Rebellion won a national award in 2006 and the second book, Sophie's Treason was selected as an "Our Choice" by the Canadian Children's Book Centre. In April 2007, Bev received a Canada Council Award for Literature.

A third Sophie book, Sophie's Exile, will be published in the Spring of 2008 by Boardwalk. She is also completing an historical fantasy (The Convict's Thumbprint) and working on another young adult trilogy (The Three Jays) which deals with the history and effects of World War II's holocaust.

Bev has also been a scholar-in-residence at Regent College and U.B.C. She lives in Vancouver with her quiet cat and enjoys the company of her many rambunctious friends.