{"id":38678,"date":"2022-03-22T15:51:44","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T20:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=38678"},"modified":"2022-03-22T15:51:44","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T20:51:44","slug":"review-of-i-have-no-secrets-by-penny-joelson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=38678","title":{"rendered":"Review of I Have No Secrets, by Penny Joelson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I Have No Secrets<\/em><\/p>\n

by Penny Joelson<\/p>\n

Sourcebooks Fire, 2019. Originally published in 2017 in Great Britain. 288 pages.
\nReview written December 4, 2020, from a library book<\/p>\n

I Have No Secrets<\/em> is a Rear Window<\/em> type thriller for teens. The main character is Jemma, a 16-year-old with cerebral palsy. She can\u2019t speak or control her muscles, but she is fully intelligent. She has a loving long-term foster family with two other special-needs siblings. Even eye-movement technology was not able to help her communicate.<\/p>\n

And Jemma\u2019s aide Sarah has a sinister boyfriend. Because Jemma can\u2019t communicate, when no one is around, this boyfriend, Dan, tells Jemma his secret \u2013 that he\u2019s the one who murdered a teen boy in the neighborhood recently. He enjoys telling Jemma he\u2019d be happy to put her out of her misery, too.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Jemma also knows that Sarah is cheating on Dan, having never broken up with Richard, her earlier boyfriend. When Sarah disappears after going to a concert with Richard, Jemma knows who to suspect, but she has no way of telling anyone. But then her family hears about a new technology that can use sniffing to communicate, which might be able to help Jemma. In their happiness, they mention it to Dan, who says he\u2019s worried about Sarah\u2019s disappearance.<\/p>\n

Okay, the plot is a little bit predictable, but it\u2019s carried out in a way that helps you understand Jemma\u2019s life and relationships when she can\u2019t communicate with anyone. The reader has to have some suspension of disbelief, since it\u2019s told in present tense from Jemma\u2019s perspective \u2013 even while she\u2019s unable to communicate. But it does help you understand what that experience would be like.<\/p>\n

This would be an interesting follow-up to Out of My Mind<\/a><\/em>, which is a book about a younger girl with cerebral palsy becoming able to communicate. If nothing else, both books help the reader empathize with someone with a sharp brain being completely underestimated because of bodily limitations.<\/p>\n

pennyjoelson.co.uk<\/a>
\nFIREreads.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

This review is only on the blog.<\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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