“She hated lying to her friends, but she wasn’t ready to share her dream yet.”
Her family and friends know Maddie as a girl who is good at sports, especially volleyball. She’s developed a new interest, though, and she doesn’t know if the people who love her will understand her newfound hobby. So, she signs up for art club but tells everyone she’s going to volleyball club. It’s just a small lie, right?
Alto Secrets is the second book in the Choir Girls series by Victoria Kimble. I was given an advanced copy of the book in exchange for a fair review. I also reviewed the first book in the series, Soprano Trouble.
Alto Secrets continues the story told in Soprano Trouble but switches views from Summer to Maddie. Maddie quickly realizes that a small lie can turn into many, big lies as she continues to go to art club when her friends and family think she’s in volleyball club. She ends up having to ask other people to help her keep up with her lie, including her brother who picks her up after club meetings. Her goal is to keep her secret until the art show where she can show her parents how good of an artist she is, but when the yearbook staff comes to take the club’s picture, her friends find out what she is doing. Should she tell her parents or still try to wait until the art show?
I really enjoyed reading this book. It is well-written and would be great for girls in upper elementary school through high school. Kimble does a good job of bringing middle-school issues to life without sounding preachy or false. Maddie’s family doesn’t go to church, but her friends do and she goes to youth group with her friends. What she learns at youth group influences her decision about her secret. This book would be a great present for the middle-school age girl in your life.