Book Review: Holly's Secret by Nancy Garden

Genre:
Realistic Fiction

Interest Level:
Ages 9-12

Book Theme:
LGBT parents,hiding a family secret,  moving to a new school

Books with Similar Themes: 
My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer by Jennifer Gennari, Just as Long as We're Together by Judy Blume

Bibliographic Information:
Garden, N. (2000). Holly's secret. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

Plot:  
Twelve-year-old Holly has just moved from New York to rural Massachusetts with her mother, her other mother KJ, her little brother, and her dog. Holly is afraid her new classmates will not be tolerant of her lesbian mothers, especially after she was teased about it at summer camp the year before and made no friends. She decides to lie and tell her new classmates that KJ is her aunt. She also decides to change her identity to become more sophisticated and feminine, so she tells everyone her name is Yvette and tries to act more confident. She befriends a group of girls and tries fit in with them, but finds it hard when she hears them calling people homophobic names. When they want to visit her house she is terrified they will find out and begs her mothers to hide the truth for her. They are both hurt but agree to do it for her, although they warn her that hiding the truth is a lot harder to do than it seems. Will Holly be able to keep hiding her secret forever?

Review: 
This story takes a hard look at what many tweens with LGBT parents go through, especially when they move to a new area. They aren't sure who to tell about their family or how they will react. Sometimes they struggle with feelings of shame or fear. They sometimes wonder what this will mean about their own sexuality. Holly deals with all of these things throughout the story and also feels the heartbreak for lying about her family. She struggles with feeling like she has betrayed her family while at the same time feeling terrified of being outcast from her peers. This book shows the strong need tweens feel to fit in and how sometimes they make choices they aren't proud of or that they regret later.  The book is written in a way that many tweens will enjoy and relate to, and is a must-read for tweens who have LGBT parents, who have moved to a new area, or who want to stand up to their friends for saying things that are hurtful.
  
Notable tweens:

Holly- The main character of the story, Holly struggles with the fear of not fitting in if her new friends discover her secret.

Julia- Julia is the leader of the group of friends Holly joins. Julia is boy-crazy, bossy, and mean. Holly is terrified of what will happen if Julia finds out the truth.

Mary- Mary is another girl in Holly's new circle. She is much nicer than Julia and at times doesn't even seem to like her, but Holly is still reluctant to tell Mary her secrets.