October 8, 2012
There’s very little that’s expected about Willey’s (A Summer of Silk Moths) novel about secrets and the power in both keeping and releasing them. For starters, the three teenagers at its center are middle school, not high school students. And while the teens—Nate, Katie, and Renata—share their versions of the events surrounding their alleged abduction of a popular jock, a large part of the narrative is dedicated to Greta Shield, a divorced social worker attempting to piece together the truth. Since Nate, Katie, and Renata spend the novel in juvenile detention, the sections focusing on Greta greatly contribute to its forward momentum. Nate and Katie’s perspectives unfold in journal entries they prepare for Greta; Katie tends toward the exclamatory, while Nate writes in a formal, heroic voice that reflects his passion for fantasy literature. For her part, Renata contributes dramatic, almost nightmarish b&w illustrations (not all seen in final form) that keenly demonstrate her powers of observation. An unnecessary nod toward the supernatural is the only off note in what’s otherwise a meticulously detailed and psychologically astute story with the feel of a procedural drama. Ages 12–up.

December 1, 2012

Gr 8-10-Though Katie, Nate, and Renata are social outcasts, they have a very tight bond. So when big man on campus Chase begins bullying Renata, they kidnap him, and because of their drastic action, they all end up in juvenile detention. Their social worker asks them each to keep a journal, and the novel is made up of their entries as well as an omniscient narrative. Katie writes two journals; in one she tells what actually happened, but the other is blatantly fake, intended for Mrs. Shield. Nate writes a flowery, fantasy-novel version of events. Renata uses her journal as a sketchbook, producing powerful black-and-white illustrations of pivotal moments leading up to her detention. The girls' journals offer great insights into their characters. Nate's high-fantasy language protects him from view until the very end, when the social worker breaks down his walls. The omniscient narrator chapters, though necessary, are jolting after the intimacy of the personal accounts. These kids have never been in trouble before, and their first act of rebellion goes wildly over-the-top in a believable, out-of-control spiral. These middle school kids encounter drugs, alcohol, sexuality, and violence, but Willey sensitively and skillfully reveals not only the details of their drastic act, but also the secrets that the three friends and their victim harbor, secrets that shape who they are and what their futures may be.-Geri Diorio, Ridgefield Library, CT

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2012
Secrets, a renewable resource in tales of suspense, fuel this one. After eighth-graders and best friends Katie and Nate have been shunned by their peers (readers never learn why, and perhaps there is no reason), they find solace in the friendship of their new classmate, Renata. When Chase, a bully from an influential family, and his followers target tiny Renata, the allies hatch a desperate plan to end her victimization. Readers meet the three as juvenile detainees awaiting judgment for kidnapping Chase. The tale unfolds in journal entries (Katie and Nate write; artist Renata draws hers) and partly through the third-person perspective of their sympathetic social worker. Each child is withholding crucial information, and uncovering these secrets takes the entire book. The experienced author manages her complicated plot deftly, but she artificially postpones promised revelations. The longer Willey holds out on readers, the higher their expectations for the payoff. The secrets are indeed big, but their revelation in the final pages feels rushed, leaving readers with unanswered questions. Though bullying is all too common, young readers won't easily identify with these quirky characters. In this page turner, the needs of the plot eclipse realism, warping the presentation of an overworked juvie system, client confidentiality, and a touted LGBTQ element that offers little context. Ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful. (Suspense. 12 & up)

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from October 1, 2012
Grades 7-10 *Starred Review* Four secrets? Feels more like 400. This mystery twists like kudzu, creeping ever closer to truths that, as readers, we both need to know and are afraid to find out. Katie, Nate, and Renata are three junior high school friends locked up in juvie after being found guilty of kidnapping the class bully, Chase. Their stories are told in nonsequential, piecemeal fashion via journals for their social worker, Greta Shield. It's a potential overload of information that Willey navigates with clarity and aplomb: Katie has two diaries, one for Mrs. Shield and a secret one filled with screenplay-style dialogue; Renata communicates only in skewed, nightmarish drawings; and Nate tells his story as if it were a Tolkienesque fantasy. This last gambit is risky but reveals the tale's mythic quality. In Nate's version, he is Nathaniel of Greymount, juvie is the Place of Contrition, and Chase is the Master of Contortions. Gradually, Greta Shield emerges as the protagonist, obsessed with digging up the truth. If Chase wasn't really kidnapped, then why are all four kids sticking to their stories? Low on visceral detail but rich in unique voices, Willey's story masterfully teases out information until the final pagesand the ultimate revelations are well worth the torture.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2012
Three junior-high students, good kids all, are being held in juvie after being accused of kidnapping and drugging their school's star jock. It becomes clear early on in this page-turner that Nate, Katie, and Renata have made a pact not to tell what really happened the week Chase was hidden in Renata's house, and despite the journals social worker Greta requires them to write for her, they don't. Katie keeps two journals (only one of which she shares with Greta); Nate's entries are written obliquely, in high-fantasy prose la Christopher Paolini; Renata will only draw pictures. From these oblique and suspect accounts, readers will piece the real story together along with Greta, who does some detective work of her own. There is a secret story and it is inside of another secret story and that one is inside of another secret story, writes Katie, and the four secrets, one about each of the teens, are satisfyingly juicy yet given depth by Willey's understanding of the complexities of friendship, a theme she's pursued since her first YA novel, The Bigger Book of Lydia, was published in 1983. roger sutton

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2013
Nate, Katie, and Renata are in juvie, accused of kidnapping their school's star jock. It becomes clear that they've made a pact not to tell what really happened. From oblique and suspect journal accounts, readers will piece the real story together along with social worker Greta. The secrets are satisfyingly juicy yet given depth by Willey's understanding of the complexities of friendship.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

"Four secrets? Feels more like 400. This mystery twists like kudzu, creeping ever closer to truths that, as readers, we both need to know and are afraid of finding out. Katie, Nate, and Renata are three junior high school friends locked up in juvie after being found guilty of kidnapping the class bully, Chase. Their stories are told in nonsequential, piecemeal fashion via journals for their social worker, Greta Shield. It's a potential overload of information that Willey navigates with clarity and aplomb: Katie has two diaries, one for Mrs. Shield and a secret one filled with screenplay-style dialogue; Renata communicates only in skewed, nightmarish drawings; and Nate tells his story as if it were a Tolkienesque fantasy. This last gambit is risky but reveals the tale's mythic quality. In Nate's version he is 'Nathaniel of Greymount,' juvie is 'the Place of Contrition,' and Chase is 'the Master of Contortions.' Gradually Greta Shield emerges as the protagonist, obsessed with digging up the truth. If Chase wasn't really kidnapped, then why are all four kids sticking to their stories? Low on visceral detail but rich in unique voices, Willey's story masterfully teases out information until the final pages—and the ultimate revelations are well worth the torture." —starred, Booklist