A Not-So-Secret Assignment

Hooray for high school literature! I am sure that I will find this to be rocky ground as I am much more familiar with the elementary area and a bit fearful of adolescent matters, but I do love young adult books, so today we will start with one of my favorites.

The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty is a book about two rival schools and six students from these two schools. The entire story is told in “diary entries, rude graffiti, hate mail, love letters, revenge plots, date plans, notes between friends, and famous last words” (quote taken from the cover page of the paperback edition). Cassie, Lydia, and Emily are best friends at Ashbury High School. Matthew, Charlie, and Sebastian are not best friends at Brookfield High School. These students are united in their misadventures through the Ashbury-Brookfield pen pal program that is supposed to teach the students to get along with each other. We’ll see how that goes.

Jaclyn Moriarty is an Australian author, and The Year of Secret Assignments is set in Australia. Therefore, if you are not from Australia, be prepared for some mildly confusing terms and phrases. Also, do not be afraid to read this book aloud with a fake Australian accent. Unless, of course, you have a real Australian accent.

Have fun reading this hilarious book, and check out Jaclyn Moriarty’s website, too! The review will be posted on Thursday, 14 June 2012, so prepare those insightful comments. I’ll give you a break – no guidelines for now, just have fun reading!