I think I would like to be part of this family. Mum writes for a newspaper each day. She aspires to be a poet but does not seem to realise, until later, that her writing is actually a form of poetry nor does she expect her readers to love her work. Dad is an art teacher and an artist. Mum has Irish heritage - her name is Una and dad has Italian heritage - his name is Giovanni Rossi or Geo for short. Ben and Nora are twins and they have a little sister named Beatrix but she is called Birdy. This story also introduces us to a wonderful teacher named Miss Schyler - the children call her the beautiful name of Miss Skylark. There is also a funny and friendly crossing supervisor named Billy.
All families have secrets I guess. If you watch those television programs such as Who do you think you are? or Long lost Family you've seen many variations on the life journeys of some children and their parents. Often these programs use DNA testing to identify connections between people and one of those tests precipitates the events of this story - A Shared Secret. Mum is keen to know about her heritage and so she has a kit. What she doesn't know is that Birdy has also spit into a tube and both these samples have been sent for testing.
Here are a few text quotes (I read this book at midnight last night after only buying it earlier that day.
"She is curled up with her stuffed horse sleeping peacefully. Her hair looks like gold in the nightlight. I think of Ben's dark hair, and mine."
"Until the problem is solved ... does it matter? Birdy is the sister you love."
"It's Father who has tears now. And it's Father who will help us all understand the truth about Birdy."
The Kirkus reviewer gives lots of plot details but it is a negative review. The cover is by Kenard Pak.
I was in one of our most splendid bookstores yesterday at an event featuring Gabriel Evans. Naturally my friend and I continued to browse the shelves after the event. That is when I spied a book by Patricia MacLachlan (1938-1922) that I had not seen before. I am a HUGE FAN of her work.
I have read so many books by Patricia MacLachlan but there are still a few I do need to find:
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