Keep It Like a Secret

by John David Anderson

Overview

A heartfelt and unexpected novel about an inseparable brother and sister, from the beloved author of Posted.

From the first moment Morgan can remember, Claire has always been there. Big sister and little brother. Cat and Mouse. They’ve always understood each other, saved each other, seen each other. And they stuck to their own code, unwritten but understood, that siblings were inseparable, that they had each other’s backs, no matter what.

At least, they used to.

Somewhere along the line, things between them shifted. Claire started fighting more with Mom, storming out of the house, spending more and more time away, and Morgan felt his sister and best friend slipping away. Now he spends nearly every night sitting awake in his room, waiting for the sound of her key in the lock. It’s a sound he hasn’t heard in nearly a week, ever since her and Mom’s worst fight ever. So when Claire finally calls and tells Morgan she wants to spend the day together, just the two of them, he knows this might be his only chance—not just to convince her to come home but to remind her how good things used to be and could be again.

But Claire has her own plan for the day. One that will mean that, no matter what happens, things between them are going to change forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063279315
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/14/2024
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	209,715
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 5.80(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

John David Anderson is the author of more than a dozen acclaimed and beloved books for kids, including the New York Times Notable Book Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, Posted, Granted, One Last Shot, Stowaway, The Greatest Kid in the World, Keep It Like a Secret, and many more. A dedicated root beer connoisseur and chocolate fiend, he lives with his wonderful wife, two frawesome kids, and clumsy cat, Smudge, in Indianapolis, Indiana. You can visit him online at johndavidanderson.org.

Editorial Reviews

03/04/2024

Artistic 12-year-old Morgan has always been close with his 18-year-old sister Claire, a former champion runner. But lately, increasingly rebellious Claire’s contentious relationship with their mother has strained that bond, especially since Morgan’s the one left to pick up the pieces anytime Claire storms out. Still, Morgan dreams of somehow healing the rift in his family. After Claire and Mom’s most recent argument, Claire returns home after several days to “borrow” Morgan for one of their traditional sibling adventures. Morgan sees it as the perfect opportunity to talk her into apologizing and coming home for good. They instead spend the day visiting Claire’s favorite spots around the city and creating new memories, as when she teaches him how to drive. As Morgan learns why Claire chafes at their mother’s expectations and pressure, he comes to understand the challenges that await him in the future and realizes that his family’s problems may be too big to solve in a single day. This emotionally tumultuous tale of familial strife and sibling bonds by Anderson (Homebound) is a quietly intimate yet powerful examination of the need for change, growth, and maturation. Morgan and his family read as white. Ages 8–12. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Anderson offers nuanced explorations of a family with wide but perhaps in time healable cracks and of two young people whose distinct differences of outlook and personality are bridged by a powerful, loving bond. An intensely felt tale of adolescents desperate for both stability and change.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Memorable. Anderson knows to let a big, complicated family story be complicated, to afford it the space it needs, and to allow a young boy to earn wisdom throughout the course of a powerful narrative." — The Horn Book

From the Publisher

★ 2024-02-17
Close-knit siblings in small-town Ohio approach a crossroads when one turns 18.

For as long as Morgan, now nearly 13, can remember, he and big sister Claire have been inseparable. He’s been seeing less of her lately, though, since the friction between his restless, defiant sib and their mother has reached the point of screaming arguments and long absences. So, when she appears at his bedroom window one morning, days after a particularly violent fight, he seizes the chance to sneak out in hopes of persuading her to come home. Instead, they embark on a daylong odyssey that includes a trip down memory lane, visits to places that have become important to Claire (including the home of her girlfriend, Sasha), and affirmations of their long-established Sibling Code (which ensures they will keep no secrets, tell no lies, and always have each other’s back). Morgan comes to realize that Claire has been trying to prepare him for something unexpected. But along with winding up the suspense through significant flashbacks and encounters (plus, for comic relief, a long-promised, ill-fated driving lesson), Anderson offers nuanced explorations of a family with wide but perhaps in time healable cracks and of two young people whose distinct differences of outlook and personality are bridged by a powerful, loving bond. The siblings and their flawed but well-meaning parents are cued white; Sasha has “copper skin.”

An intensely felt tale of adolescents desperate for both stability and change. (Fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews