Mackall, Dandi Daley. The Secrets of Tree Taylor. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014. 978-0-375-86897-9. 282 p. $16.99. Gr. 6 and up.

Tree Taylor has always wanted to write. Her goal is to write a story over the summer that gets her on to the staff of The Blue and Gold; her school newspaper. She has a writer’s notebook all set to go, with daily inspirational quotes. When a gunshot rings out down the street, she knows she has her big story. Now all she needs to do is find out what happened. As she investigates, she learns more about herself and the circumstances surrounding the shooting. She feels the weight of people’s secrets coming down on her and she is not sure if she is doing the right thing by writing the article or telling other secrets she learns during her investigation. She has a great support system within her family and they help guide her to know when telling a secret is important and when it will cause damage.

Historical Fiction (Vietnam War)      Kathryn Gilbride, North Pocono High and Middle Schools

This book would be wonderful in an English class that concentrates on journalism. Tree is a likeable girl who only wants to write. She sees an opportunity for a big story, and she has inner conflict about whether to reveal all she knows. She writes questions for further investigation and interviews quite a few people. The Vietnam Conflict story line is very interesting, and may educate some of our students on a time period they don’t know much about, which may cause further investigation. There is one story line that doesn’t materialize into much of a story, her friend Sarah is moving to another state. When I was young, I would be consumed by this thought, and Tree rarely mentions it. That was the only implausible part, and it was minor.