Product Description

In all their permutations, these unforgettable stories explore one of the irresistible facets of human nature, the fact that everyone has a secret. Marthe Jocelyn has selected twelve stories
by several of the best authors in North America to explore the nature and the power of secrets. Sometimes secrets can be downright funny – how would you like to be the front person for your fake, clairvoyant mother? Secrets can also be scary – if you are pretending that your father is dead so you don’t have to introduce him to your teacher. And sometimes secrets can break your heart, and heal it – when they have to do with the ties that bind generations together.

Contributors include Susan Adach, Anne Carter, Gillian Chan, Nancy Hartry, Marthe Jocelyn, Julie Johnston, Dayal Kaur Khalsa, Loris Lesynski, Anne Gray Sarndal, Martha Slaughter, Teresa Toten, and Elizabeth Winthrop.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2129603 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-13
• Released on: 2005-09-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 184 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8–Many secrets are revealed in this collection of 12 unforgettable short stories. In Gillian Chans Dream Girls, Ella, 10, is happy to be everything Sonia is not–a tomboy who loves playing outdoors, getting dirty, and having fun. Her mother always compares her to her friends daughter, but when Sonia comes for a visit, she is well-mannered with the adults but mean and spiteful to Ella. In Jocelyns How It Happened in Peach Hill, deceit runs in the family. To drum up business for Mama, a pseudo-clairvoyant, her daughter hangs around town, appearing to be mentally challenged while gathering gossip. But when Mama goes too far with a psychic performance on a rich widower, the lies take a different direction. In Teresa Totens Fathers Day, Katie fakes her drunk and abusive fathers death to avoid the annual fathers day activities at school. Other contributors include Susan Adach, Anne Laurel Carter, Nancy Hartry, Julie Johnston, Dayal Kaur Khalsa, Loris Lesynski, Anne Gray, Martha Slaughter, and Elizabeth Winthrop. Readers will enjoy these tales of life, love, and liberation.–Alison Grant, West Bloomfield Township Public Library, MI
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About the Author
Marthe Jocelyn is an award-winning author and illustrator who worked for many years as a toy designer before turning her hand to writing. She has written five novels, including the critically acclaimed works of historical fiction, Mable Riley and Earthly Astonishments. Marthe has also written a nonfiction account of the Foundling Hospital in London, England, entitled, A Home for Foundlings.