Secret Lives

Addie Agnew #1

by Berthe Amoss

Set against the backdrop of 1930s New Orleans, Berthe Amoss's 1979 young adult mystery follows twelve-year-old Addie Agnew as she struggles to uncover the secret of her mother's death. Living with her spinster aunts in a house that's practically haunted, Addie was always told her mother was perfect and was swept off to sea with Addie's father in a Honduran tidal wave. But Addie suspects there's something her aunts aren't telling her, and it has something to do with the locked trunk in the attic. What's in the trunk? And what really happened to Addie's parents? In this classic story about family secrets and growing up, Addie will stop at nothing to discover truth about her mother, even if learning the truth will change everything forever.

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Mystery

180 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1979

About the author

Born and raised in New Orleans, Berthe Amoss has never stopped writing about her home city. She is the author and illustrator of twenty-eight children's and young adult books. Her picture book The Cajun Gingerbread Boy won a Children's Choice Award and The Chalk Cross was a finalist for the Edgar Allen Poe Award.

Reviews

[KWinks · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my quest to read all of the books in Shelf Discovery by Lizzie Skurnick that I missed in my younger reading days, I picked up Secret Lives. I enjoyed the complexity of this one. I think the reason I didn't enjoy it was Addie, the main character, as I found her self absorbed and kind of a pain in the ass. My twelve year old self probably would have liked her more. Holly, Addie's friend, was a much more interesting character and I wished at several points in the story that this was Holly's story instead. The overlay of the imagined characters (who are paper dolls) also kind of annoyed me. I understood the device- Addie used the paper dolls to reconstruct her mother's past, but I found it weird and it made Addie seem even younger and more immature. What I did love was the history of the novel, and I think it really shone when the kids all hung out together and in scenes when Addie and her aunt were getting along well. There was some charm to the story, but very little meat. And I hated the ending. Just saying.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this about 20 years ago. (It was a gift from one of my aunts, I think, though the copy I presently own was not.) But thanks to Meghan in the What's the Name of That Book? group here on Goodreads, I've identified and re-read it.

This is an excellent book, filled with well-drawn characters. The ending was more sad than I remembered, though. I can easily see myself re-reading it; I may have to try to track down a copy. Sadly, it's long out of print.

My help me find this thread.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when I was 10. I was looking for books set in New Orleans because I missed the city so much. My parents are from there, I was born there, but I had never lived there. I visited my cousins every winter and summer. So I longed for anything having to do with New Orleans, *real* New Orleans. This book is set in New Orleans, but is not full of fake voodoo or jazz or Mardi Gras. It's just a book about a girl who happens to live in New Orleans. The oldness and quaintness of the city come through, but only because it serves the story (from what I can remember).

[Kari]

Set in the 1930s, the story follows Addie as she tries to figure out what her dead mother was really like, but it becomes apparent there's more to the story than she's always been told by her aunts. Yes, as the back cover synopsis indicates, there's a mystery element to this story, but frankly, it's not a very engrossing one. I can't imagine this hooking today's young readers because there's not much for them to connect to.

I did like this bit of dialogue/narration, though; it's that adult wit coming through in the narration, often prevalent in 70s children lit.

"'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,'" I snapped, not having the faintest idea what that meant...
"Beauty may be in your eye, but it's nowhere else," retorted Sandra Lee, knowing exactly what she meant.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this at a yard sale as a kid but the last two chapters were missing so I didn't find out how it ended until college when I bought a new copy. This is precisely where my live if "skeletons in the closet" family secret southern gothic started.

[Amy Gourley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was bettre than I expected. Set in 1930s New Orleans,it has the set up of many books I have read; a young orphan girl being raised by 2 maiden aunts. Addie is trying to find out the truth about her and her death, which adds a mystery element to the book. I loved the close family and the all the characters were great.

[Cindy Dyson Eitelman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, as you can see by my rating, I just didn't connect with this one.
Full review:
http://swampowl.blogspot.com/2013/04/...