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A review by indieandajean
The Secret Letters by Margaret Peterson Haddix
5.0
I received this audiobook from Netgalley and Harper Audio in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 Stars Rounded to 5!
I wasn't expecting to love this book! I remember never being able to get into the writing of Peterson Haddix's Shadow Children series as a child and I've held a, perhaps unfair, judgement against her writing since then. (My apologies for my tastes as an 8 year old, I believe I'm probably overdue for another attempt at reading the series). That said, I really loved Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Secret Letters and highly recommend it for kids who enjoy mysteries and in particular those who enjoyed Moon Over Manifest as this serves very similar story structure and characters, but in a modern setting.
The book follows two children of rival junkers/ organizers who, as children of rivals are want to do, develop a friendship. Over the course of a summer the two soon to be middle schoolers find two boxes of letters from friends like them under the floorboards of homes that their families cleaned out. They work together to learn about what life was like for the two 12 year olds in the 1970s and toward the goal of eventually learning what happened to the pair.
Beware! Below there be spoilers:
What I Loved:
-The narration. I received this as an audio ARC and I have to say I really loved the narrators, they had great voices for the characters and it made the story even easier to follow!
-The family bonds displayed. There's really nothing better than seeing a diverse variety of family structures in a children's book. Nevaeh's family's loud and all encompassing love felt familiar to me in ways that caused me to love them immediately, and by offsetting that with the quieter more organized affection between Collin and his single mother felt right.
-The historical elements. When I talk to kids about the 90's and 00's they really struggle to imagine life before smart phones and tiktok. By setting kids like them in a situation where they have to learn about the 70's and it's politics, social norms, pop culture and more was a great way to structure teaching the reader about the time period. The author's additional explanations at the end were also great! With many kids having grandparents and adults in their lives who were children of the 70's, I hope this book encourages conversation about the past!
-The digestible feminism. This book shows kids just how recently it was that women could not own their own property or bank independently and displays the attitudes towards woman's rights that still exist today that are fairly unchanged from the way they were in the 70's. This book is a great reminder to kids that we have a way to go before men and women are equal, but does so in a way that isn't hitting the reader over the head with it.
What I Didn't Love:
-The sibling dynamic between Prilla and Nevaeh sometimes felt a little off. I think Prilla was a little too self aware as an older sister (apologizing almost right away to Nevaeh for picking on her about boys) and sometimes she seemed to be younger than she was written to be (the sharing of things in her very messy room felt like something sisters closer in age would do). It took me until she was talking about college to realize that she was in high school and while that sorted out some of the maturity she was demonstrating it still all felt a little off. That could just be because I grew up with a different sibling dynamic, but at any rate it was a small issue.
-The cover. I'm going to have a hard time getting kids to grab this off the shelf without prompting. I think once they start reading they'll be hooked, but the cover could use some help in getting them to open it up to that first page.
Overall I highly recommend the book. I already know who I'm planning on handing it to once it is released.
4.5 Stars Rounded to 5!
I wasn't expecting to love this book! I remember never being able to get into the writing of Peterson Haddix's Shadow Children series as a child and I've held a, perhaps unfair, judgement against her writing since then. (My apologies for my tastes as an 8 year old, I believe I'm probably overdue for another attempt at reading the series). That said, I really loved Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Secret Letters and highly recommend it for kids who enjoy mysteries and in particular those who enjoyed Moon Over Manifest as this serves very similar story structure and characters, but in a modern setting.
The book follows two children of rival junkers/ organizers who, as children of rivals are want to do, develop a friendship. Over the course of a summer the two soon to be middle schoolers find two boxes of letters from friends like them under the floorboards of homes that their families cleaned out. They work together to learn about what life was like for the two 12 year olds in the 1970s and toward the goal of eventually learning what happened to the pair.
Beware! Below there be spoilers:
What I Loved:
-The narration. I received this as an audio ARC and I have to say I really loved the narrators, they had great voices for the characters and it made the story even easier to follow!
-The family bonds displayed. There's really nothing better than seeing a diverse variety of family structures in a children's book. Nevaeh's family's loud and all encompassing love felt familiar to me in ways that caused me to love them immediately, and by offsetting that with the quieter more organized affection between Collin and his single mother felt right.
-The historical elements. When I talk to kids about the 90's and 00's they really struggle to imagine life before smart phones and tiktok. By setting kids like them in a situation where they have to learn about the 70's and it's politics, social norms, pop culture and more was a great way to structure teaching the reader about the time period. The author's additional explanations at the end were also great! With many kids having grandparents and adults in their lives who were children of the 70's, I hope this book encourages conversation about the past!
-The digestible feminism. This book shows kids just how recently it was that women could not own their own property or bank independently and displays the attitudes towards woman's rights that still exist today that are fairly unchanged from the way they were in the 70's. This book is a great reminder to kids that we have a way to go before men and women are equal, but does so in a way that isn't hitting the reader over the head with it.
What I Didn't Love:
-The sibling dynamic between Prilla and Nevaeh sometimes felt a little off. I think Prilla was a little too self aware as an older sister (apologizing almost right away to Nevaeh for picking on her about boys) and sometimes she seemed to be younger than she was written to be (the sharing of things in her very messy room felt like something sisters closer in age would do). It took me until she was talking about college to realize that she was in high school and while that sorted out some of the maturity she was demonstrating it still all felt a little off. That could just be because I grew up with a different sibling dynamic, but at any rate it was a small issue.
-The cover. I'm going to have a hard time getting kids to grab this off the shelf without prompting. I think once they start reading they'll be hooked, but the cover could use some help in getting them to open it up to that first page.
Overall I highly recommend the book. I already know who I'm planning on handing it to once it is released.