Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala Narrator: Jenna Lamia
Length: 7 Hours 37 Minutes
Published by HarperCollins on 2011-09-20
Genres: Death & Dying, Pregnancy, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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It's tough living in the shadow of a dead girl. . . . In the five years since her bad-girl sister Xanda's death, Miranda Mathison has wondered about the secret her sister took to the grave, and what really happened the night she died. Now, just as Miranda is on the cusp of her dreams—a best friend to unlock her sister's world, a ticket to art school, and a boyfriend to fly her away from it all—Miranda has a secret all her own. When two lines on a pregnancy test confirm her worst fears, Miranda is stripped of her former life. She must make a choice with tremendous consequences and finally face her sister's demons and her own. In this powerful debut novel, stunning new talent Holly Cupala illuminates the dark struggle of a girl who must let go of her past to find a way into her own future.
A few months ago, which is basically years in the blogging world, Harper Teen began releasing weekly podcasts of the unabridged audiobook Tell Me A Secret by Holly Cupala read by Jenna Lamia. Week after week, I would download the podcast on my iPhone, until suddenly it seemed the podcasts just stopped. I would refresh on my phone to see if that week’s podcast was up, and well nothing new would show up, so I sort of chalked it up to a possibly discontinued initiative, which sucked, because I was really getting into it. Anyways, I hop on my iTunes the other night, and lo and behold, the rest of the chapters are there, just waiting for me to finish the story. Immediately I began doing some chores, just so I could finish Tell Me A Secret.
Tell Me A Secret by Holly Cupala is a book about a girl who gets pregnant. However, it’s more than just a teen pregnancy book. I mean there aren’t any placentas floating around in this book. You see, we begin the book and main character Rand has just come back from summer camp. Her best friend, Delaney is getting pretty close to her boyfriend, Camron. However, Rand is basically trying to ignore that. Anyways, things begin to fall apart. What ensues is a story of, duh, SECRETS.
Secrets which I found to be heartbreaking. I’m not going to reveal those, because part of the fun is unraveling the story for yourself. Anyways, it seems like Rand has this idyllic family life. Her dad is a contractor, her mom is super big into church and directing plays. However, they are a family haunted by ghosts. NOT REAL GHOSTS. I mean ghosts aren’t real and there aren’t like any Caspers just chillin in the story. But, metaphorical ghosts, like, they have a shadowy past.
Anyways, Tell Me A Secret made my chest clench in anger. Assuming a chest can clench, it’s like your heart just beats faster and your chest goes all tight. I would listen to this while driving for my job (I travel a lot), and I would start to go misty eyed and would have to take a breather to avoid applying more mascara. Seriously, reading this I really grew to care about Rand, and well, normally I just don’t care about pregnancies, etc. Cupola has a way of writing though, where one really feels for the characters and the trouble they land themselves in. I mean, Rand is in WAY over her head.
I thought the audio was very well done. Jenna Lamia’s voice was perfect for the part of Rand. Plus, she gets the bitchy of Delaney so WELL. Then you can feel the condescension in her voice as she plays Rand’s mother. It’s wonderful and youthful and easy to fall into. Octopuppy productions are the ones who produced the audio, and with that sort of quality, it makes me want to investigate other audiobook they have produced. Oddly enough, though I can’t seem to find a way to purchase the audiobook through Amazon, I know, WHAT THE WHAT. Just, trust me that it’s awesome and you might be able to still find the podcast to check it out. I know that I am now eagerly awaiting Don’t Breathe A Word, Cupala’s sophomore novel.
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I loved the print version of this book. You just can’t help but connect with Rand. I couldn’t stand her mom for much of the book and was disappointed with Camron but she had some fantastic people around her that were there for her when her own family wasn’t. I’ve noticed that the strict perfectionist parent has become a staple of contemporary YA fiction. Rand’s mom isn’t as vile as the dad in North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley or the parents in Carolyn Mackler’s The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things but I wonder if a lot of today’s teens feel that their parents do expect too much from them or that their parents won’t be there for them when they mess up.
I didn’t know that Holly had a second book coming out. I will have to add it to my TBR list. Great review!