A Secret Shared

Summary

From Newbery Medal–winning author Patricia MacLachlan comes a poignant middle grade novel that follows the unraveling of a family’s secret when two older siblings discover through a mail-order DNA test kit that their youngest sister was adopted.

Nora and Ben’s younger sister, Birdy, loves to keep secrets. She surprises her family more than once: She hides a kitten in her room. She writes a beautiful story. One day Birdy watches her mother spit into a tube, ready to send it off to find out more about herself and where her family came from. Birdy spits into a tube, too, when no one sees her.

But when the test results come back, they are a surprise. Where did Birdy come from?

Nora and Ben must learn when to keep a secret and who to go to for help—and eventually, how to solve this secret for the entire family.

In this touching story about the secrets we keep, Patricia MacLachlan paints a moving portrait of what it means to be a family, the power of love, and the importance of bringing the truth out into the light.