Keeping Secrets

The Civil War was perhaps the darkest time in America's history. It wasn't as bloody as World War I or II, it wasn't as pointless as the Great Depression, and it wasn't a desperate fight for freedom like the Revolutionary War. But it represented the depth to which people can sink; it was the split of a nation that had become the most free in the world, and it tore America apart at the seams. Families were divided and thousands of lives were destroyed simply because two sides couldn't see eye to eye and refused to hear each other out. Witness to all this horror and trapped in the middle of it were the Kelly children. Their story can be found in the Orphan Train Series by Joan Lowery Nixon, and in the sixth book in the series, Keeping Secrets. 

Peg Kelly has watched the Civil War rage on for years now. She's seen it ravage its way across America, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. She saw her siblings rise up to join the fight; she saw them stand up for what they believed in. They came through each trial they faced; they came out bruised and scared but as stronger people. And Peg feels that she is ready to do the same. But Peg, the youngest Kelly girl, is only eleven. The biggest challenges in her life are surviving school and turning twelve. Her mother refuses to treat her like a young lady and no one thinks Peg is old enough or mature enough to do anything for her country - that is except for her brother, Danny, and Miss Hennessy, a new friend who seems ready to trust Peg with anything. And when Miss Hennessy needs help, Peg might just get the chance to help her country yet.

I have read and reviewed the entire Orphan Train series now. I didn't read them in order and there were some books that I liked better than others, but all of them are now reviewed on this blog. This series was geared towards middle school and younger kids, and age demographic that I am not in, but, despite that, I found a couple of the books in the series entertaining if not enjoyable. Sadly, Keeping Secrets was not one of them. The book has many issues that should be addressed: the pacing is strange; the author spends too much time on uninteresting things like laundry and skims over pivotal parts of the story; the main character, Peg Kelly, is a very passive character who spends the book doing nothing and observing what others are doing. It seems like the author put Peg in the story to be the main character but was more interested in other characters and spent more time developing them. Because of this, for the first several chapters I had a hard time remembering who the actual main character was; and the book missed a huge opportunity for some solid character building on Peg's part. As an eleven year old girl she is struggling with very relatable issues, issues that could have been explored further as a lesson to the younger readers who might be struggling with some of the same things. But unfortunately Peg never actually overcomes her struggles they all just magically disappear in time for the exiting climax to the story. Perhaps I'm just too old for this book series and younger kids with enjoy it. Maybe this last book was just too juvenile for me to find it believable. Overall I found this book unsatisfying and found myself wishing I was reading something else.


*****
RJ


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