Tell Me A Secret

Published June 22nd, 2010

Tell Me A Secret | Holly Cupala

HarperTeen

Hardcover | 256 pp.

Tell me a secret, and I'll tell you one…
In the five years since her bad-girl sister Xanda’s death, Miranda Mathison has wondered about the secret her sister took to the grave, and what really happened the night she died. Now, just as Miranda is on the cusp of her dreams—a best friend to unlock her sister’s world, a ticket to art school, and a boyfriend to fly her away from it all—Miranda has a secret all her own.
Then two lines on a pregnancy test confirm her worst fears. Stripped of her former life, Miranda must make a choice with tremendous consequences and finally face her sister’s demons and her own.
In this powerful debut novel, stunning new talent Holly Cupala illuminates the dark struggle of a girl who must let go of her past to find a way into her own future.

Brent’s opinion  of the novel:
     This book has been on my wish list for MONTHS. Back in June, I read so many raving reviews, and near all my blogging friends loved it.  I knew had to get it.  A few weeks ago, I finally got around to buying it.  And when I finished reading it, I could’ve smacked myself for not getting it sooner.
     TELL ME A SECRET was a great debut novel, with subject lines that led the story in so many different directions.  Teen pregnancy and death.  Five years after Miranda’s sister’s death, she finds out she’s pregnant.  And that complicates everything.  Her relationship with her mother is strained, and she loses the boyfriend she thought it would stick with her through everything—including pregnancy.  As her stomach grows, her senses heighten.  Miranda is more aware than ever of the heavy loneliness she’s felt since Xanda, her sister’s, death.
     I felt so bad for Miranda.  So bad.  She’s one of those characters who, when something unfortunate happens to them, you ache for.  She was amazingly real.  Miranda—or, Rand—had two sides.  She was this sweet girl, who only wanted to be happy.  And she was this dark girl, who didn’t hesitate to let her harshness shine through.  Throughout the pregnancy, Rand starts to mature.  It wouldn’t be right to say that she finally starts to see the overall picture, because I’d say she’s always seen it.  Rand starts to see the bigger picture more clearly.  I really loved her.
     Holly Cupala’s writing is filled with tragedy and hope.  If you haven’t read TELL ME A SECRET, you really should.  I’m so stoked for her next novel, DON’T BREATHE A WORD.