Reviews

Holly's Secret by Nancy Garden

library_brandy's review

1.0

A seventh-grade girl has just moved to a new school and takes the opportunity to reinvent herself—including pretending she doesn’t have two moms. But how to keep up the charade? And both moms are hurt when Holly pretends one is just an aunt. It was good enough, I guess, but I’m having a really hard time reconciling this (frankly) kind of bland, weakly-written novel (published in 2000) with the wonderful Annie on My Mind from almost 20 years earlier. Annie had so much heart to it, with sharp writing that rang true to the ear. I honestly thought Holly’s Secret must’ve been published first—it has a lot of problems with rough, stilted dialogue and stereotyped characters (Understanding former Fat Girl, Follower, and Queen Bee), and the activities of seventh-graders in suburban/rural Massachusetts seems so hopelessly out of touch. But no, it’s just preachy and bland.