The Secret of Me: A Novel in Verse [Paperback]

Meg Kearney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 2007 | Age Level: 11 and up | Grade Level: 6 and up

The acclaimed story of an adopted teenager's quest to find her place among family, friends, and the wider world.

Being adopted is a fact of life in the McLane household: fourteen-year old Lizzie, as well as her older brother and sister were adopted as infants. But facts are not feelings, and what it feels like to be adopted is something Lizzie never dares discuss with her loving parents, let alone with outsiders. Lizzie yearns to confide in others, especially her friend, Peter. Yet something stops her. Will Peter think she is "less" because her birthmother gave her away? Would telling be disloyal to her adoptive parents?

To make sense of her life, Lizzie pours her emotions into her poetry—list poems, sonnets, free verse, sestinas, blues—about her family, best friends, basketball, the dance. Then a tragic accident occurs, and Lizzie knows she must find the courage to speak.

In an afterword, the author discusses her own adoption and the beneficial powers of reading and writing poetry. Also included are a guide to the book's poetics and recommended books and links about adoption and poetry.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up–This novel in verse follows 14-year-old Lizzie through a year in which, despite her loving family, a circle of good friends, and a potential first boyfriend, she is plagued with a personal secret. She desperately wants to find out the story behind her adoption and her own identity, and while her parents and brother and sister (also adopted) are sympathetic, they discourage her from pursuing it. The lack of information leads her to worry obsessively and she frequently finds herself in her broken place where she wonders if being adopted makes her less of a person and if she can ever share her secret with others. The poems are readable and heartfelt, based in part on the author's life. Kearney creates a believable voice for her protagonist, and this book will be welcomed by adults working with young adoptees. Though lacking the broader appeal of Kate Banks's Dillon Dillon (Farrar, 2002) and Hilary McKay's Saffy's Angel (S & S, 2002), it will find a receptive audience among teens who enjoy introspective coming-of-age dramas and thoughtful family stories. Kearney includes a good deal of supplemental material, including some thoughts on how families can discuss adoption among themselves, a guide to the poetic forms she has used (including pantoums, sestinas, and villanelles), six of Lizzie's favorite poems, and a list of recommended books on poetry and adoption.–Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Unique and inspiring...a first-rate offering. -- Kirkus, starred review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Persea; 1st Paperback Ed. edition (December 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892553367
• ISBN-13: 978-0892553365
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #991,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Meg Kearney's first collection of poetry, An Unkindness of Ravens, was published by BOA Editions Ltd. in 2001. The Secret of Me, her novel in verse for teens, was released in hardcover by Persea Books in 2005; the paperback edition, along with a teacher's guide (available for free on the author's Web site), came out in 2007. Four Way Books published her newest collection of poems, Home By Now, in fall 2009. Home By Now is the winner of the 2010 PEN New England Award as well as a Finalist for Foreword Magazine's Book of the Year and the Paterson Poetry Prize. Meg's picture book, Trouper the Three-Legged Dog, is forthcoming from Scholastic (date TBA). Her poetry has been featured on Poetry Daily and Garrison Keillor's "A Writer's Almanac," and has been published in such publications as Poetry, Agni, and Ploughshares, and the anthologies Urban Nature (Milkweed, 2000), Poets Grimm (Storyline, 2003), Never Before: Poems About First Experiences (Four Way Books, 2005), Shade (Four Way, 2006), The Book of Irish American Poetry from the 18th Century to the Present (Notre Dame, 2006), and Conversation Pieces: Poems that Talk to Other Poems (Knopf, Everyman's Library Pocket Poets series, 2007). She is also co-editor of Blues for Bill: a Tribute to William Matthews (Akron University Press 2005).

Recipient of an Artist's Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts in 2001, Meg also received a New York Times Fellowship and the Alice M. Sellers Academy of American Poets Award in 1998. Meg is currently Director of the Solstice Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, MA, as well as Director of Pine Manor's Solstice Summer Writers Conference. For 11 years prior to joining Pine Manor, she was Associate Director of the National Book Foundation, sponsor of the National Book Awards, in New York City. She also taught poetry at the New School University.

For more information, visit www.megkearney.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written, very moving, May 14, 2006

By 

Jennifer C. Miller - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret of Me (Hardcover)

I bought this book at the recommendation of a friend, and was initially concerned that the format (poetry) wouldn't hold me. Turns out it was so engaging and fluid that I couldn't put it down. Like the lead character, I'm adopted and this book really captured the essence of growing up with a "secret me". I laughed and cried, and bought extra copies for friends and family. It's a moving, beautifully written book. Cheers and thank you Meg Kearney!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Secret's Out, February 5, 2006

By 

Terence Winch - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret of Me (Hardcover)

It seems pretty daring to attempt "a novel in verse" for young adults---how many of them read poetry?---but Meg Kearney brings so much passion, narrative skill, technical ability, and insider's insight to this wonderful little book that kids (and adults) will love it. There's a very engrossing story here, told in a novel way. Make that a poetic way. I have friends and relatives who were adopted, and I never felt such understanding and empathy for them as I did after reading this book. I hope "The Secret of Me" gets the attention it deserves.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Secret Of Me, May 19, 2006

By 

Loca - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret of Me (Hardcover)

The Secret of me is a good book that is based on a kid that is adopted. When you start to read this book you wont be able to put it down because its so good. But the best part about this book is the format becasue it is poetry. The Secret of me is a book that all of you should and see what is it like to be adopted.