my mother caught me with this book when I was in middle school--I had gotten it out of curiosity at a book swap.
Gilly is a normal young girl. She has a little sister who she calls Honey because she thought that was what Bea(atrice) meant. There are some new neighbors on her block, and she gets a new friend. Soon after, she also gets molested by her father.

Gilly's Secret is a story about a very big problem in a normal girl's life. She doesn't know how to handle everything that life gives her. When I read it, I could understand her and her sister, her family's struggle for normalacy in a disappointing world.

My problem with Gilly's Secret was that it only shallowly told Gilly's story. The reader sees what is done to her, but not the full consequences afterwards--there are only a few lines mentioning her start at healing later.

I expected more from a story that could have been much more powerful. It could have givena strong message to its readers, young and old alike, instead of grazing the tip of the iceburg, probably in the thinking that a young reader wouldn't be able to handle the topic. Trust me, that would not be the case.