Seven for a Secret

Sheppard, Mary C. (2001). Seven for a secret. Toronto: Groundwood/Douglas & McIntyre.

Reading level: Grades 8-12

"One for sorrow / Two for joy / Three for a wedding / Four for a boy / Five for silver / Six for gold / Seven for a secret that can't be told"

Summary:
Three cousins (Kate, Rebecca, and the narrator, Melinda) live in rural Newfoundland in the 1960s. They think they know everything about everybody in there tiny community. However, as the summer progresses, the girls find out that there are secrets in their very own family. The girls must also deal with tough decisions about boys, school, and independence.

Comments:
This book is a very detailed portrayal of small town Newfoundland in the 1960s. The community is just on the brink of coming out of their splendid isolation; a road doesn't reach the town until the very end of the book. A lot of the story felt like the author's own nostalgia about Newfoundland, and a close-knit community. There's a lot of description, which slows down the storyline, making it hard to stay interested. While I appreciate the limited choices the girls had in the book, I didn't like the ending. I kept waiting for one of the girls to stand up to the adults and make her own decisions, but this didn't end up happening.

The cover of the book didn't fit with the story at all, which seems strange. On the cover the girls look modern and cartoonish, yet in the book they are old fashioned and serious. The book seems like an adult book that happens to have a YA protagonist so the publisher tried to market the book to teens by creating a young-looking cover. Maybe I'm too hung up on the cover, but it really bothered me! The story itself is OK, and would likely be of interest to females who grew up in Newfoundland, or who are interested in Canadian fiction.

Rating: 3/5