Dazzled by Books

"Trading Secrets" by Melody Carlson is a really cute story about a pair of pen pals. Micah's teacher matched up all the kids with pen pals in a nearby Amish community. Micah's pen pal is a boy named Zach. Now Zach automatically assumed that Micah was a boy and Micah decided to go along with it and tell Zach later in the future. Five years later, Zach still thinks that Micah is a boy. Micah is afraid that her friendship with Zach will end if she tells him the truth.

When Micah's mom died, Zach's letters were the only thing that kept her going and helped her work through all of her grief. Micah really began to depend on Zach and she doesn't want to jeopardize their friendship at all. When Micah gets the chance to go to Zach's family Farm, she jumps at the chance to meet him, but she doesn't know if she should tell him ahead time that she is a girl.

Micah decides to show up dressed like a boy and go from there but she finally gives up and informs Zach of the truth. Zach now has some of his own secrets in mind now that he knows Micah is a girl. I really enjoyed this story. I thought it was super cute and a really easy story to read. It is nice to have good novels that are for young adults that aren't all about sex, drugs, and violence. It was nice having a change.

Carlson is a great writer. She writes all of her stories with great morals and characters. I love getting to know the characters in this story and seeing how their lives unfold. I am definitely looking forward to more wholesome novels from Carlson.