Keeping You A Secret - Softcover

Peters, Julie Anne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316009857 ISBN 13: 9780316009850

Publisher: Little, Brown, 2005

Synopsis

National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters delivers a moving, modern classic love story with a coming out theme -- now with a fresh, redesigned cover!
With a steady boyfriend, the position of Student Council President, and a chance to go to an Ivy League college, high school life is just fine for Holland Jaeger.
At least, it seems to be.
But when Cece Goddard comes to school, everything changes. Cece and Holland have undeniable feelings for each other, but how will others react to their developing relationship?
This moving love story between two girls is for fans of Nancy Garden's classic young adult coming out novel, Annie on My Mind. With her characteristic humor and breezy style, Peters has captured the compelling emotions of young love.

About this title

About the Author:

Julie Anne Peters is the critically acclaimed author of Define "Normal," Between Mom and Jo, Far from Xanadu, and Luna, a National Book Award Finalist.

From Booklist:

Reviewed with Tea Benduhn's Gravel Queen.

Gr. 9-12. In these novels about first love, a high-school girl falls hard for another girl and faces the complicated pain of coming out to family, friends, and to one's self. In Gravel Queen, the author's debut novel, Aurin explores her first gay relationship, and finds that her best friend, a glamorous, possessive drama queen, is jealous. Benduhn focus on Aurin's self-discovery and friendships, closing the novel before Aurin tells her family what's going on. In Keeping You a Secret, model high-school senior Holland, who has a boyfriend, develops an overwhelming crush on Cece. The girls fall passionately in love and a tragic coming-out story ensues. Holland finds herself homeless and alone, except for Cece and a new gay support system.

Both novels, written in first-person, are filled with believable inner monologues and finely tuned contemporary dialogue. Benduhn includes some interesting cinematic references related to Aurin's filmmaking aspirations, but some of her descriptions are over-the-top. Peters' story and characters are more developed. Both books are romantic and layered, and many teens, particularly those with fluid sexual identities, will recognize the questions: Do you have to kiss someone to be gay? What do fantasies mean? Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0316009857
• ISBN 13: 9780316009850
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 266