Fall 2021: Wild Readers Group 5 discussion

The Truth About Keeping Secrets is SUCH a good book! This book is captivating the moment you start reading! Sydney, the main character, loses her Dad in a car accident and grows increasingly more suspicious about how accidental his dead really was. Her Dad was the town psychiatrist and Sydney learns that the popular girl at school was one of his patients. This connection brings the two girls together which builds a very intense, and strong friendship. Sydney receives a weird and uncomfortable text message from a blocked number the day of her Dads funeral. Throughout the book, these suspicious texts grow to become more alarming causing Sydney to fear for her own life. So many questions arise from these text messages and you catch yourself fearing what the meaning behind them is, all while trying to figure out who is behind them.
The LGBTQ aspect is brought in so effortlessly. The author did a really good job of taking out the shock factor and making that transition really natural. Sydney falls for June so deeply you almost root for this relationship. I really like that this book doesn’t marvel on the fact that Sydney is falling for June, it’s just part of the storyline, not the main point. I like this because I feel like young readers would relate to something more natural like this than a book that only focus’ on the relationship, instead there are so many different parts of the story that make Sydney seem very relatable. She just an average girl experiencing love, navigating grief and fearing for her own life all in one. It’s definitely a page turner book-I would highly recommend you read it!