Master storyteller Avi returns to his Roaring Twenties setting of The Secret School to continue the story of Ida Bidson. As she moves from her family's farm to the town of Steamboat Springs to attend high school, Ida is excited and nervous. She has never attended a school other than the one-room schoolhouse she and the other kids out in the county shared. Now she is boarding with a school system employee and taking classes like Latin. Ida also learns many lessons that are not academic, things like - some people expect rural kids to fail, some people don't like progress, and some judge you by the friends you keep or by outmoded social standards.
Ida makes a group of friends who form a club and name themselves the Secret Sisters. I enjoyed the way each girl has her own personality and backstory, but they could all support each other. A flapper, a miner's daughter, a girl from a sheep ranch...they all have strengths and can help each other succeed. They can also make each other brave enough to stand up for what is right.
Readers who are unfamiliar with the era may appreciate the glossary of flapper terms, as well as the author's note about the 1920s. A touch I especially liked was the way musical lyrics from songs of the day were worked into the story. Just published August 29 - don't let your middle grade readers miss it!
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