Kirkus Reviews QR Code
SECRETS, LIES AND MY SISTER KATE by Belinda Hollyer

SECRETS, LIES AND MY SISTER KATE

by Belinda Hollyer

Pub Date: March 1st, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2179-4
Publisher: Holiday House

When her older sister Kate disappears, almost-13-year-old Mini uncovers a family secret in trying to find her. Aside from Kate, Mini lacks close friends. Classmates find her “weird” and “boring” because of her passion for geography, but Kate always understands Mini and her “geography thing.” Aware “it’s not a good idea to be different at school,” Mini befriends Satch, a new kid with a stutter. In spite of this budding relationship, her world wobbles when predictable Kate starts fighting with their parents, comes home with a tattoo and eventually vanishes. Confounded that her adored sister left without confiding in her, Mini applies intuition and geographical skills to track Kate, discovering a lot about her family and herself in the process. Mini’s insightful, humorous first-person narrative reveals a sensitive girl with an honest self-image who is able to appreciate how her parents, her sister and her new friend feel. Although driven by the mystery of Kate’s disappearance, the heart of this story really lies in the down-to-earth family drama and its satisfying, realistic resolution. (Fiction. 8-12)